Q. I know that the Social Security supplement is reduced for any earnings above $14,640 (FY 2012). My question is that if I retire at the end of February 2012, would I already lose some of the supplement since I would have already made over $20,000 by the end of February? Or would the earnings test be only for the period of March 2012-December 2012?
A. No, you wouldn’t lose any of your special retirement supplement because you’d be protected by the “first year rule.” To learn why that’s so, go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10069.html.
