Can I work before full retirement age without SS benefit reductions? Earnings limit confusion
Hi everyone, I'm getting close to retirement age (62 next March) and trying to figure out if I can still work part-time while collecting Social Security. I keep hearing different things from friends about whether I'll lose benefits if I work. Someone mentioned FRTA - I think they meant FRA (full retirement age)? Mine is 67. If I start collecting at 62 but keep working at my bookkeeping job (about $22,000/year), will Social Security reduce my monthly check? Do I really have to wait until 67 to work without penalty? Any help sorting this out would be appreciated!
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Sophia Miller
There's definitely an earnings limit if you collect SS before your Full Retirement Age. For 2025, if you're under FRA the whole year, SS will deduct $1 from your benefits for every $2 you earn above $22,320. In the year you reach FRA, the limit is higher - about $59,520, and they only deduct $1 for every $3 above that limit. Once you hit your FRA month, there's NO earnings limit - you can make as much as you want without reduction. So at 62 with $22,000 income, you'd be just under the limit actually!
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Elijah Jackson
•Thank you! I'm so relieved to hear my income would be under the limit. Does this earnings limit include only wages or other income too like rental properties or investments?
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Mason Davis
My brother started SS at 62 and kept working but they took back a ton of his benefits! Not worth it IMO
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Sophia Miller
•It really depends on how much he was earning. With the 2025 earnings limit at $22,320, someone making $32,320 would have $5,000 withheld from their benefits ($1 for every $2 over the limit). But remember, those benefits aren't permanently lost - they get added back after you reach Full Retirement Age through a recalculation.
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Mia Rodriguez
I was so confused about this too! I'm 64 and taking SS while working part time. The thing no one tells you is that if your making over the limit, its not that they just reduce your check - they can actually STOP sending payments completely until they've withheld enough to cover the excess earnings. I had NO payments for 3 months this year because I worked too much at the beginning of the year! Then they started again. The SSA calculates this weird.
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Jacob Lewis
•You're absolutely right about how they withhold benefits - it's not just a reduction, they can suspend payments entirely until the withholding amount is satisfied. That's why it's so important to complete the Annual Earnings Test form to give SSA an estimate of your earnings if you'll be working while collecting early retirement benefits.
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Amelia Martinez
does this apply for disabilty benefits too??
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Sophia Miller
•No, disability (SSDI) has completely different rules. For SSDI, the key threshold is Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) - $1,550/month in 2025 for non-blind individuals. Earn above that consistently, and you could lose eligibility for disability benefits entirely. The retirement earnings test only applies to retirement, spousal, and survivor benefits claimed before FRA.
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Jacob Lewis
One important detail: the earnings limit only applies to EARNED income (wages, self-employment). It does NOT count pension payments, investment income, interest, annuities, capital gains or other government benefits. Also, in the first year you retire, SSA sometimes applies a monthly test rather than the annual test, which can be more favorable depending on when you stop working. And don't forget - when you reach FRA, SSA will automatically recalculate your benefit and give you credit for the months they withheld benefits due to excess earnings. Your monthly benefit amount will increase to account for those withholdings.
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Elijah Jackson
•This is extremely helpful! So my pension from my old job ($18,000/year) won't count toward the earnings limit? That's a huge relief. I think I'll apply for benefits at 62 after all since my combined bookkeeping job and pension would keep me comfortable, even with the reduction for claiming early.
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Ethan Clark
I went through THIS EXACT SITUATION last year and the most frustrating part was trying to get someone on the phone at SSA to explain all this to me. I spent HOURS on hold only to get disconnected. I finally discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SSA agent in under 10 minutes. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent was able to calculate exactly how much I could earn before hitting the limit and explained how the withholding would work. Totally worth it to get the personalized advice since everyone's situation is different.
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Elijah Jackson
•I'll check that out! I tried calling SSA last week and gave up after being on hold for 45 minutes. Having an agent walk through the calculations for my specific situation would really help.
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Mila Walker
Something to consider - even though you CAN work while receiving early benefits (as long as you stay under the earnings limit), financially it might be better to either: 1) Delay starting SS until your Full Retirement Age if you plan to keep working, OR 2) If you really need the SS income now, try to keep your work earnings just under the annual limit If you're healthy and expect to live past 80, delaying benefits can result in significantly more lifetime SS income. Each year you delay between 62-70 increases your benefit by approximately 8%.
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Mason Davis
•This whole 'delay if you'll live past 80' thing is a GAMBLE! No one knows how long they'll live. My dad waited til 66 to collect and died at 72. Lost out on 4 years of payments he could have had. I'm taking mine the second I hit 62!
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Elijah Jackson
•That's a good point about the long-term math. I'm actually not sure if I'll continue working past 65 anyway, so maybe starting benefits at 62 while staying under the earnings limit makes sense for my situation. My family doesn't tend to be very long-lived (parents both passed in their 70s).
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Mia Rodriguez
Is the earnings limit for the whole year or does it like start when you apply? I'm confused about when they start counting your earnings???
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Sophia Miller
•They look at your total earnings for the calendar year, January through December. But there's a special rule for the first year you retire - they can apply a monthly earnings test instead of the annual test. So if you retire mid-year, you could earn more than the annual limit before retirement, but still receive benefits for the months after retirement if your monthly earnings are under the limit for those specific months.
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Amelia Martinez
my neighbor said if you work over the limit they just take it back later not right away
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Mila Walker
•That's not quite right. If you expect to earn over the limit, you should report your estimated earnings to SSA right away. They'll reduce your benefits proactively throughout the year. If you don't report it, and they discover later (through tax records) that you earned over the limit, they'll send you an overpayment notice and you'll have to pay back the excess benefits. Much better to have them withhold correctly from the start!
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