Working in Retirement: What You Need to Know

Planning on working during retirement? If so, you're not alone. Recent studies have consistently shown that a majority of retirees plan to work at least some period of time during their retirement years. Here are some points to consider.

Why work during retirement?

Obviously, if you work during retirement, you'll be earning money and relying less on your retirement savings, leaving more to grow for the future. You may also have access to affordable health care, as more and more employers offer this important benefit to part-time employees. But there are also non-economic reasons for working during retirement. Many retirees work for personal fulfillment, to stay mentally and physically active, to enjoy the social benefits of working, and to try their hand at something new.

What about my Social Security benefit?

Working may enable you to postpone claiming Social Security until a later date. In general, the later you begin receiving benefit payments, the greater your benefit will be. Whether delaying the start of Social Security benefits is the right decision for you depends on your personal circumstances.

One factor to consider is whether you want to continue working after you start receiving Social Security retirement benefits, because your earnings may affect the amount of your benefit payment.

If you've reached full retirement age (66 to 67, depending on when you were born), you don't need to worry about this — you can earn as much as you want without affecting your Social Security benefit. But if you haven't yet reached full retirement age, $1 in benefits will be withheld for every $2 you earn over the annual earnings limit ($16,920 in 2017). A higher earnings limit applies in the year you reach full retirement age. If you earn more than this higher limit ($44,880 in 2017), $1 in benefits will be withheld for every $3 you earn over that amount, until the month you reach full retirement age — then you'll get your full benefit no matter how much you earn. Yet another special rule applies in your first year of Social Security retirement — you'll get your full benefit for any month you earn less than one-twelfth of the annual earnings limit ($1,410 in 2017) and you don't perform substantial services in self-employment.

Not all income reduces your Social Security benefit. In general, Social Security only takes into account wages you've earned as an employee, net earnings from self-employment, and other types of work-related income such as bonuses, commissions, and fees. Pensions, annuities, IRA payments, and investment income won't reduce your benefit.

Even if some of your benefits are withheld prior to your full retirement age, you'll generally receive a higher monthly benefit starting at your full retirement age, because the Social Security Administration (SSA) will recalculate your benefit and give you credit for amounts that were withheld. If you continue to work, any new earnings may also increase your monthly benefit. The SSA reviews your earnings record every year to see if you had additional earnings that would increase your benefit.

One last important point to consider. In general, your Social Security benefit won't be subject to federal income tax if that's the only income you receive during the year. But if you work during retirement (or you receive any other taxable income or tax-exempt interest), a portion of your benefit may become taxable. IRS Publication 915 has a worksheet that can help you determine whether any part of your Social Security benefit is subject to income tax.

Additional Tax Benefits

Since you will have earned income in these years, consider the benefits of continuing to save to a tax-advantageous vehicle such as your employer’s 401k 403b plan or even a Traditional or Roth IRA. While many individuals that are semi-retired automatically think they don’t need to save to such plans, the tax savings generated can make these strategies worthwhile. You may find your previous savings strategy somewhat altered if you are in a lower tax bracket. Perhaps a Roth IRA makes more sense now if you are indeed in a lower bracket. Run the analysis based on your unique situation, and implement the strategy.

Revisit Asset Allocation

If you are now planning to work longer and perhaps are able to minimize the cash flow needs from your investment portfolio, this may allow you to take a little more exposure to equities and thus potentially achieve slightly higher returns over the long-term. Of course, the change to asset allocation won’t be dramatic, but a slight adjustment could be beneficial in the long-rune. Your individual risk tolerance and ability to withstand the volatility will still be a primary consideration.

How will working affect my pension?

Some employers have adopted "phased retirement" programs that allow you to ease into retirement by working fewer hours, while also allowing you to receive all or part of your pension benefit. However, other employers require that you fully retire before you can receive your pension. And some plans even require that your pension benefit be suspended if you retire and then return to work for the same employer, even part-time. Check with your plan administrator.

Update Retirement Projections

As life is a journey, changes will need to be made to your retirement projections and related decisions. Your professional can help you with financial modeling to focus on some of the income tax and investment decisions noted above and can update an appropriate spending level based on your extended working years. You may find the results generated from this analysis encouraging – perhaps you can now spend more on vacation, help out the grandchildren, or support your favorite charity in a manner that you previously thought not possible.