Do 403B contributions count toward Social Security earnings limit of $23,400 for 2025?

SSA uses your gross earnings before any deductions when applying the annual earnings limit. So yes, your 403B contributions are still counted as part of your income toward that $23,400 limit for 2025. It's based on your W-2 Box 5 wages for most employees, not what actually hits your bank account after your retirement contributions. This is different from how some other programs calculate income.

Are you sure about this??? I thought retirement contributions were EXCLUDED from the SS earnings test! My friend's financial advisor told him they don't count and that's why he increased his 401k contributions after starting SS last year. Now I'm worried he's going to get a huge overpayment notice from SSA!!

I just went through this exact situation last year! Tried calling SSA for weeks and couldn't get through. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. The agent confirmed that 403B/401k/457 contributions DO count toward the earnings limit - it's your gross wages before any deductions that matter. You can see how their service works in this video: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - definitely saved me from making a costly mistake with my part-time work hours.

yeah this is right its GROSS income that matters not net. my brother got hit with a big overpayment last year cuz he thought his 401k would help him stay under the limit

I want to add a critical point here: The earnings limit only applies to money earned in months AFTER you've filed for benefits in that calendar year. So if you file in February 2025, only your earnings from March-December count toward that $23,400 annual limit. Also, in the first year you claim benefits, SSA uses a monthly test rather than annual ($1,950/month for 2025). This sometimes helps people who work part of the year before claiming.

My sister had this EXACT same problem! The whole SSA system is RIGGED to confuse people so they end up with overpayments that they demand back!!! They deliberately make these rules complicated and then don't answer their phones when you try to get clarification. It's a TRAP designed to catch hard-working Americans who are just trying to supplement their meager SS benefits!!!

I retired as a teacher last year and had the same question. After researching this topic extensively, I created a spreadsheet to track my earnings each month to make sure I stay under the limit. Would it be helpful if I shared a template of how I track this? The monthly method mentioned above really does help in your first year.

wait a sec isnt the limit different if ur full retirement age in the same year? my uncle said something about that

I'm still confused - what about self-employment income? Does that count differently? And what about pension payments from previous employers? Sorry for the questions but this is all so complicated!

Thank you all for the great information! To summarize what I've learned: 1) My 403B contributions DO count toward the earnings limit, 2) I might benefit from the monthly limit in my first year, 3) I need to carefully track my earnings to avoid an overpayment. I'm going to call SSA to confirm all this and maybe try that Claimyr service since I haven't been able to get through on my own. Really appreciate everyone's help!