Once you reach full retirement age, you can keep working, and your Social Security benefit will not be reduced no matter how much you earn. If you choose to delay receiving benefits beyond your full retirement age, your benefit will be increased by a certain percentage, depending on the year you were born. The increase will be added in automatically from the time you reach full retirement age until you start taking benefits or reach age 70, whichever comes first. If, for example, you were born in 1940, your benefit would increase 7 percent for each year, between your full retirement age and age 70, that you do not get retirement benefits.

There are very few investments that increase by 7% a year, every year. For more information about how work affects your benefits, ask for How Work Affects Your Benefits (Publication No. 05-10069).