Even if you receive the money after you start collecting benefits, Social Security treats it as connected to work done prior to your retirement. Two occupations in which special payments frequently come up are insurance sales and farming. Many retired insurance agents get commissions on policies they sold before the year they retired. If your mate isn’t yet on Social Security, you can claim your retirement benefit at 62 (or later) and switch to spousal benefits when they do file. Social Security limits how much you can earn while collecting disability benefits but also offers programs to help you return to steady work. When you reach full retirement age, Social Security resets your benefit to make up for money previously withheld due to the earnings test. It’s only interested in how much you make from work while receiving benefits. In other words, if your income exceeds the cap on yearly earnings for beneficiaries who have not yet reached full retirement age, Social Security will withhold money from your retirement payments. You can collect both unemployment and Social Security retirement benefits at the same time because unemployment benefits don’t count as wages. The special earnings limit rule is an exception to Social Security’s earnings test — the cap on the amount you can make from work in a year without Social Security reducing your benefits. It’s not a matter of what you pay Social Security — it's what they don't pay you. Read about how benefit withholding for the earnings test works. Easily calculate how much retirement income you need from your savings, 401 (k), Social Security benefits and more with this retirement calculator. There is also a maximum individual retirement benefit, a limit on the amount an individual can collect per month from Social Security. To draw the highest possible benefit, you must have earned at least the maximum taxable earnings (the amount of income subject to Social Security taxes) for 35 of your working years.