Ask the Expert: Retirement scenarios
Fourteen percent of people who majored in accounting found partners who are also accounting majors. Credit: iStock
The answer to your question really depends on entire your work history.
Anyone who has paid Social Security taxes for at least 10 years is eligible for a benefit. But the benefit calculation is always based on 35 years of earnings. So if you worked for only 10 years, it includes 25 years of zero annual dollars. And if you worked more than 35 years, it counts only the 35 highest earning years.
Assuming you have 35 years of Social Security earnings behind you at age 58, your colleague is right that having zero earnings for the next four years won't reduce your benefit. But no matter how many years you worked, your benefit will be permanently cut if you take it before your full retirement age. If you start collecting Social Security at 62, your check will always be 25 percent smaller than if you had waited until 66 (full retirement age for everyone born between 1946 and 1964).
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