Does pension freeze at retirement

[TonyG589750]

If you retire at 68 yrs does the ss pension freeze financially at that point or does it still financially increase until age 70 yrs?

[cat0w]

@TonyG589750 

Have you visited the Social Security website and created an account? The United States Social Security Administration | SSA

Check out the FAQ's.

[GailL1]

IF a beneficiary DOES NOT FILE for SS Retirement (or any other) benefit on their own record, the personal benefit will continue to grow at a rate of about 8% a year from FRA to age 70 - then it STOPs accruing.

[TonyG589750]

Thank you for the reply but not sure if you understood my question

if you retire at 68 yrs ( therefore claiming SS pension at 68 yrs) does the pension freeze at

$2,206 pm and never accrue any further or does it still accrue as shown for ages 69 $2386pm and 70 yrs $2711pm  on SS Statements.

Also does SS pension increase monthly with any cost of living rises?

[Tonster521]

@TonyG589750 Once you start your Old Age (aka Retirement) SS Benefits, you no longer are receiving delayed credits. So, using your terminology, your SS Benefit is frozen except for COLA when applicable. I am hesitant to use the word,"accrue", because, by delaying your SS Benefit after attaining Full retirement Age (FRA), you are giving up current SS Benefits to receive a greater amount in the future. Based on average life expectancy (ALE), they are actuarial equivalent. However, if you delay SS Benefits and live longer than ALE (approx. age 84), you will receive greater/more SS Benefits than if you started at FRA. 

However, as fffred pointed out, if you continue to work after attaining FRA, your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) may increase due to such earnings replacing a lower earning year out of the 35 years needed under the PIA formula. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/Benefits.html#:~:text=Social%20Security%20benefits%20are%20typically,a.... 

[fffred]

@TonyG589750 

Once you start collecting your SS retirement benefits the benefit amount is fixed. Cost of Living adjustments (COLA) may be added if warranted.

A person who is working and paying into SS while collecting benefits may get an increase in the benefit amount if that year's wages "replaces" one of the 35 highest earning years considered for the current benefit. See https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html