The Surprising Ways Your Social Security Check Can Change After You Claim

Even if you contribute steadily to an IRA or 401(k) plan for many years while you're working, you may need your Social Security benefits to meet your retirement goals. That's why it's important to know what monthly benefit to expect once you sign up.

A good way to get an estimate of your monthly retirement benefit from Social Security is to create an account on SSA.gov and access your most recent earnings statement. It should give you an estimate of your benefit at different filing ages.

You don't want to get too hung up on that number, though, since the monthly Social Security benefit you start out with could change after you've filed for a number of reasons. Here's why.

COLAs could give you a raise

Each year, Social Security benefits are eligible for a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. The purpose of COLAs is to help ensure that benefits are able to keep up with inflation.

Social Security COLAs are calculated based on third-quarter changes to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W. When there's a rise in the index year over year, Social Security benefits get a COLA automatically. Congress does not have to vote on a raise every year, which was the case prior to 1975.

Social Security COLAs typically take effect in January but are announced the October before. That way, seniors know what to expect ahead of time.

You could see your benefits shrink for earning too much money

You're allowed to work while collecting benefits from Social Security. But if you're getting benefits and you have not reached your full retirement age (FRA), you'll be subject to an earnings limit. Exceeding that limit could result in having benefits withheld.

The earnings limits change yearly. In 2026, you'll have $1 in Social Security withheld per $2 of earnings above $24,480 if you won't reach FRA by the end of the year. If you'll reach FRA by the end of the year but have not done so yet, you'll have $1 in Social Security withheld per $3 of earnings above $65,160.

When you have benefits withheld for earning too much money, they're typically repaid to you in the form of larger monthly checks once FRA arrives. But all told, you could see a lot of changes to your Social Security benefits if you work, depending on your income and age.

Late-in-life wages could raise your benefits

Your monthly Social Security benefit is calculated based on your 35 highest-paid years of income. If you opt to work while collecting Social Security and earn a high wage, you could replace a year of lower or no earnings in your benefits formula, leading to larger monthly checks.

Let's say you claim benefits at FRA, but at that point, you only have 34 years of income on record with the Social Security Administration. If you decide to work and make $70,000 that year, your $70,000 income can replace a year of $0 income in your benefits formula. And if you earn that $70,000 once you've reached your FRA, there won't be an earnings limit to worry about.

You could get a second chance at signing up

If you file for Social Security early and regret it, you're often out of luck – unless you exercise your do-over option. You're allowed to withdraw your Social Security benefits application within 12 months of approval. If you do that and repay all of the money in benefits you received, you'll generally be allowed to file again at a later date, which could lead to larger monthly payments.

For example, let's say you claim Social Security at 62 and reduce your benefits as a result. If you undo your filing within 12 months and repay your benefits, you can file again at 67, at which point you could be looking at much larger checks each month.

Bottom line

Social Security will most likely play a big role in your retirement plans. But you should know that while your monthly checks could change for the better after you've filed for benefits, they could also end up shrinking, at least temporarily, depending on the circumstances at hand.

It's important to understand how your Social Security benefits could change over time. But it's just as important to have income outside of Social Security so you're not too reliant on those senior benefits.

Another reason your Social Security benefits could change after you've filed is if the program is forced to implement broad cuts due to a funding shortfall. Lawmakers have never let that happen in the past, and there's a good chance they'll be able to avoid Social Security cuts in the coming years, too. But it's best to have backup income streams in case widespread cuts end up being unavoidable.