Yes. If you wait until your full retirement age to begin taking your benefit, there are no limits on your earnings. If you took early retirement, you can work, but your benefit may be offset.
Under most benefit plans, members become vested after 5 years.
Age may be just a number, but that number matters when it comes to retiring. The common definition of early retirement is any age before 65 — that's when you may qualify for Medicare benefits. Currently, men retire at an average age of 64, while for women the average retirement age is 62.
As to how many hours you can work and still collect Social Security, this will obviously depend on your hourly wage. For example, if you earn $20 per hour, you can work 1,170 hours per year before your Social Security benefits are reduced, assuming you haven't yet reached full retirement age.
For members under the CalSTRS 2% at 62 benefit structure, your age factor is: Set at 2% at age 62. Decreased if you retire before age 62. Increased to a maximum of 2.4% if you retire at age 65 or later.
For example, if your retirement formula is 2% at 55 and you retire at age 55, you will get 2% for each year of service credit . The percentage increases every quarter after age 55 up to the maximum age of 63 . A common misconception is that your benefit will increase indefinitely with age .