A worker in his early 60s who spent decades at a New Britain plant may still have a path to Social Security benefits even after earning too much earlier in the year. The case highlights a lesser-known provision that can help people who lose a job late in their career and assume their prior wages make them ineligible.
The issue centers on the Social Security earnings test, which can reduce or delay benefits for people who claim before full retirement age while still bringing in too much income. For someone with a long work history, a layoff after months of solid pay can make it seem as though benefits are out of reach for the rest of the year.
But a special first-year retirement rule can change that calculation. In some situations, Social Security looks at income on a month-by-month basis after a person stops full-time work, rather than relying only on the annual total. That can open the door to benefit checks for the remaining eligible months of the year, even if earlier earnings were high.
In the example tied to the plant closure, that rule could mean as much as $16,800 in benefits. For older workers facing an unexpected layoff, the takeaway is that high earnings before leaving a job do not always end the discussion on Social Security eligibility.
