SourceEveryone’s retirement is unique. Beyond deciding when to begin receiving retirement benefits, other factors that can affect your benefits include whether you continue to work, what type of job you had, and if you have a pension from certain jobs.

Continuing To Work

You can choose to keep working beyond your full retirement age. If you do, you can increase your future Social Security benefits. Each extra year you work adds another year of earnings to your Social Security record. Higher lifetime earnings can mean higher benefits when you choose to receive benefits.

Specific Types Of Earnings

While Social Security earnings are calculated the same way for most American workers, there are some types of earnings that have additional rules.

Earning types with special rules include:

• Farm Work
• Federal Government Employment
• Household Employment
• Military Service
• Nonprofit Or Religious Organizations
• Railroad Earnings
• Self-Employment
• State And Local Government Employment Wages
• Work Outside The United States

Pensions And Other Factors

Pensions and taxes have the potential to impact your retirement benefit. Review the resources below on pensions and other factors you should consider:

• Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP): If you have a pension from a job for which you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, this policy may lower your retirement benefits.
• Government Pension Offset (GPO): This policy affects benefits as a spouse, widow, or widower if you have a pension from a government job for which you didn’t pay Social Security taxes.
• Income Taxes And Your Social Security Benefits: You might have to pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits in certain situations.