If his new job will over his living expenses he can pay the SSA back the payments he has received, without interest, as a lump sum, and the draw his full social security at 67.
> he can pay the SSA back the payments he has received <
Yes, that’s possible. But it must be done within one year of first taking SS benefits. My friend is past that. I believe there is also a way to suspend your benefits for a time to increase your eventual payout.
I suppose one would have to crunch the numbers to see if that makes sense.
...THAT wrinkle is only good for ONE year after he starts drawing benefits. If he has the money, he can suspend benefits plus pay back the 12 months $$s and then continue to accrue. The old payback from age 62 to 69 in a lump sum and then get the age 70 credits has been ended... ymmv
**If still working (You and I are not!) Try to max the Roth contributions and make your Roth the growth portion of your retirement assets.
https://financeband.com/do-roth-distributions-count-as-income-for-social-security
Distributions from Roth IRAs are not taxable and therefore won't cause Social Security benefits to be taxable. The optimal time to do a Roth conversion is after you retire, are in a lower tax bracket, but before claiming Social Security benefits. Consider drawing off “tax deferred” retirement assets.
How does Roth affect Social Security?
Your Roth IRA distributions won't affect your Social Security benefits, but your earned income will. ... Also, the amount you make can cause the taxation of your benefits. Up to 85 percent of your Social Security benefits can be taxed at normal income tax rates depending on your amount of earned income.