Netflix Viewing Time Drops an Estimated 26%. A Bored Retiree Trades the Couch for a $40,000 Job That Could Boost His Social Security
A retired 67-year-old trades the couch for a $40,000 job out of sheer boredom, and his decision quietly sets off a chain reaction inside Social Security that most retirees never think to check.
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Jefferies (NYSE:JEF | JEF Price Prediction) reportedly estimates that average monthly viewing time per Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) member fell roughly 26%, from 66 hours in the first half of 2023 to 49 hours in the first half of 2026. That’s a lot less time watching television.
Now picture a 67-year-old retiree who’s had his fill of the couch. He misses the routine of working, the conversations with coworkers and having somewhere to be each morning. So he takes a $40,000-a-year job, not necessarily because he needs the money, but because he’s bored. The paycheck comes with a potential bonus he hadn’t considered: a bigger Social Security benefit.
His Paycheck and His Benefit Can Arrive Together
Retirees who claim Social Security early and keep working can run into the retirement earnings test. If they earn more than a yearly limit, Social Security temporarily holds back some of their benefits. At 67, our retiree has already passed the age for full benefits.
The Social Security Administration’s 2026 fact sheet, which sets out this year’s benefit and payroll figures, lists the earnings limit after full retirement age as none. That means his salary triggers no withholding at all. He could earn twice as much and get the same result. Think of it as a speed limit that goes away once you cross a certain mile marker. His paycheck and his Social Security deposit can land in the same month without either one reducing the other.
Why His Check Could Grow, and When It Won’t
Social Security bases benefits on a worker’s highest 35 years of earnings, with older years adjusted upward to reflect wage growth over time. Every year, the agency looks at new earnings from people who are already collecting. If this year’s wages beat one of the years currently counted, the new year replaces the lower one and his benefit is adjusted upward. He doesn’t have to apply for it.
Retirees most likely to benefit are those with gaps in their work history. Years spent raising children, time out of work, low pay early in a career, or fewer than 35 years on the job all leave lower or zero years in the record. Replacing a zero year with $40,000 in wages gives him the biggest boost from that new paycheck.
The increase isn’t guaranteed, though. If every year already in his top 35 beats what he earns now (after those older years are adjusted for wage growth), the job adds nothing to his benefit. Someone with a long, well-paid career may find the new salary falls short of every year it would need to replace.
Taxes That Show Up on His Return
Working at 67 still means payroll deductions. Social Security and Medicare taxes still come out of every paycheck, just as they did during his career.
The bigger surprise tends to come at tax time. To decide how much of a person’s benefits are taxable, the IRS’s guide to taxing Social Security benefits adds one-half of your benefits to all other income, including tax-exempt interest, and compares the total to a base amount set by filing status. Wages push that total higher. So he pays income tax on the paycheck, and a bigger share of his Social Security can become taxable on top of it.
For his budget, that means the job puts less in his pocket than the $40,000 figure suggests. He can request federal tax withholding from his benefit so he doesn’t face a large bill in April.
Two Things to Check Before the First Payday
First, pull up his earnings record through a my Social Security account. He should look for his lowest counted years and any zeros. If he finds some, the new job has a real chance of raising his check for life. Next year, he should also confirm the new wages were posted correctly.
Second, map out his household’s after-tax cash flow. That means take-home pay after payroll taxes, the added income tax on his benefits, and work costs like commuting. That number tells him what the job is really worth to him.
Because Social Security updates its benefit and payroll figures every year, a retiree who keeps working should review his earnings record and tax withholding annually as new wages post and the rules change.
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Gerelyn Terzo is the author of dividend investing handbook "Dividend Investing Strategies: How to Have Your Cake & Eat It Too." A veteran financial journalist, she covers agri-finance for outlets like Global AgInvesting and the broader stock market and personal finance for 24/7 Wall Street. She began at CNBC and later helped launch Fox Business in New York. Gerelyn currently resides in Woodland Park, Colorado and dabbles in nature photography as a hobby.
