Can my early social security money can be earned in a couple months instead of a year?

[Patrick]

When i go on social security early at 62, i am able to work and earn $14,100 a year. Could I earn that in a couple months, or do I have to spread it out over the entire year? Its because of doing seasonal work.

[Lauren F]

No, you can earn it in as short a period as you want. One thing to be careful of, though, is to not go over that amount. If you do, because of your age, you will be heavily penalized. For every $1 you earn above the limit (it is $14,160 this year) you will have to give back half of that in forgone social security benefits.

So, watch your pay stubs closely, and don't cut it too close.

Plus, if you make more than $25,000 ($34,000 as a married couple) some of your social security benefits could be taxable, meaning you lose some of your benefits to taxes.

So, go ahead and work, but do something light paying and relatively short time, or else continue working full time and postpone collecting for a little longer. The longer you wait to collect, the more your payout will be per month.

Good luck.

[ramkot]

You can earn that in any time period. Big lotto winner- or jackpot at casino or winning big in stock or commodity market