Do Social Security income limits count Roth IRA withdrawals after reaching FRA?
I'll be hitting my Full Retirement Age (67) next year and plan to start collecting Social Security then. I've also got a Roth IRA that I've been contributing to for about 20 years. My financial advisor suggested I could start taking withdrawals from my Roth, but I'm worried this might count as income and reduce my Social Security benefits. I know there's that earnings test if you work while collecting SS, but do Roth IRA withdrawals get counted the same way? I've heard mixed things and the SSA website is confusing me. Thanks for any help!
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Amina Toure
Good news - Roth IRA withdrawals (both contributions and earnings) are NOT counted as income for Social Security earnings test purposes at any age, including at your FRA. The earnings test only applies to wages from employment or net earnings from self-employment. Since you already paid taxes on Roth contributions and qualified withdrawals are tax-free, they won't affect your Social Security benefits. That said, if you have a traditional IRA, those withdrawals ARE taxable and might make your Social Security benefits taxable (different issue than the earnings test), but even that wouldn't reduce your actual SS payment amount.
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Paolo Esposito
•Thank you! That's a huge relief. So if I understand right, I can take out as much as I want from my Roth without worrying about hitting income limits for Social Security? I was getting so confused because some people were telling me it counted and others said it didn't.
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Oliver Weber
I think ur wrong about this. My brother in law had to pay back some of his SS last year because he took too much from his retirement accounts. Said it pushed him over some limit. Social security is SO COMPLICATED!!
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Amina Toure
•Your brother-in-law was likely taking distributions from a traditional IRA or 401k, not a Roth IRA. Traditional retirement account withdrawals are considered taxable income and can make your Social Security benefits taxable (up to 85% of benefits), but that's different from the earnings test that actually reduces benefits. Roth IRA qualified distributions are completely tax-free and don't count for either purpose.
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FireflyDreams
I went through EXACTLY this last year! Drove myself crazy worrying about Roth withdrawals affecting my SS checks. After 3 separate calls to SSA (each with different answers...ugh), I finally got a supervisor who confirmed Roth withdrawals DO NOT count toward the earnings test limit. I've been taking withdrawals all year with no impact on my SS benefits. BUT - write down the name of whoever you talk to at SSA. I got 3 different answers from 3 different reps, which made me so paranoid I had to keep calling back.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•Trying to reach SSA these days is a NIGHTMARE!!! I've been calling for 2 weeks and either get disconnected or told the wait time is over 2 hours. How did you even get through to THREE different people?? I'm trying to ask a similar question about my pension payments.
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FireflyDreams
•I used this service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent quickly. After wasting days with busy signals and disconnections, I found their site (claimyr.com) and they connected me to SSA without the typical wait. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU It was worth it to finally get answers about my Roth IRA question, especially since I was getting different info from everyone. Just make sure you talk to a supervisor, not just the first rep who answers.
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Javier Morales
Since you'll be at Full Retirement Age (67), you won't face the earnings test at all - that only applies before FRA. Once you reach FRA, you can earn unlimited income from work without any reduction to your Social Security benefits. However, to directly answer your question: Roth IRA withdrawals are not considered "earnings" for the earnings test at any age, since they're not employment income. They're also not taxable income (assuming they're qualified distributions), so they won't trigger taxation of your Social Security benefits either. This is one of the major advantages of Roth accounts compared to Traditional IRAs, where withdrawals could potentially make your Social Security benefits taxable.
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Paolo Esposito
•Thank you for the detailed explanation! I think I was getting confused between the earnings test and taxation of benefits. So even if I was under FRA, Roth withdrawals still wouldn't count toward the earnings limit? That's really good to know for future planning.
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Emma Anderson
my financial guy told me same thing about roths not counting but then i saw something on turbotax that scared me so i ended up not taking any money out last year just to be safe. now i'm glad i waited til fullretirement age to be extra sure
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Malik Thompson
Everyone here is forgetting about IRMAA thresholds!!! If your income is too high (including Traditional IRA distributions but not Roth), you could end up paying more for Medicare Part B and D premiums. This doesn't affect your SS payment directly, but since Medicare premiums are deducted from SS, it feels like a reduction. Just another thing to watch for...
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Paolo Esposito
•Oh wow, I hadn't even thought about Medicare premiums. I'm not on Medicare yet but will be soon. So Roth withdrawals won't affect IRMAA either? That seems like a huge advantage for Roths.
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Javier Morales
•Correct. Qualified Roth IRA withdrawals don't count toward MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) which determines IRMAA surcharges. Traditional IRA withdrawals do count toward MAGI and can push you into higher IRMAA brackets, increasing your Medicare premiums. This is another significant advantage of Roth accounts in retirement planning.
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Oliver Weber
i took out $15,000 from my roth last year and still got my full ss check every month so I'm pretty sure they don't count
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Emma Anderson
My wifes cousin said something about a 5 year rule with Roths? Does that matter for this question too??
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Amina Toure
•The 5-year rule is about whether your Roth withdrawals are considered "qualified" (tax-free) or not. There are actually two 5-year rules: 1. For contributions: The Roth account must be at least 5 years old AND you must be 59½ or older for earnings withdrawals to be tax-free 2. For conversions: Money converted from Traditional to Roth must remain in the Roth for 5 years before withdrawal to avoid penalties If you've had your Roth for 20 years as mentioned, and you're at FRA (67), you meet both criteria for tax-free withdrawals. Non-qualified withdrawals could have tax implications, but even those don't count toward the Social Security earnings test.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
The SSA rules are SO FRUSTRATING!!! I spent 3 hours on their website trying to figure this out last month and got completely lost in all the legalese. Why can't they just make a simple chart - "these types of income affect benefits, these don't"? Would that be so hard???
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Paolo Esposito
•I completely agree! I found their website really confusing too. I've been trying to find a straightforward answer about Roth IRAs for weeks before finally posting here.
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Kelsey Chin
I'm in a similar situation and have been researching this extensively! From what I've learned, Roth IRA withdrawals are treated very favorably by SSA. Since you've been contributing for 20 years and will be at FRA, your withdrawals should be completely qualified distributions - meaning they're tax-free AND don't count toward any Social Security limits. The key distinction is that the earnings test only applies to "earned income" from work, not investment withdrawals. Roth distributions aren't considered earned income, so they can't trigger benefit reductions. Plus, since they're tax-free, they won't make your SS benefits taxable either. Your financial advisor is giving you good advice! At FRA, you have maximum flexibility with both Social Security and Roth withdrawals.
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GalacticGuru
•This is really helpful information! As someone new to navigating Social Security and retirement planning, I appreciate seeing all these detailed explanations. It's reassuring to know that Roth IRA withdrawals won't interfere with Social Security benefits. I'm still a few years away from retirement myself, but this thread has definitely convinced me that maximizing Roth contributions now could pay off big time later. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it makes these complex rules much easier to understand!
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Ellie Perry
As someone who just started learning about retirement planning, this thread has been incredibly educational! I'm still decades away from retirement, but seeing how Roth IRAs provide such flexibility with Social Security is making me seriously consider prioritizing Roth contributions over traditional 401k contributions at work. The fact that Roth withdrawals don't count toward the earnings test, don't affect IRMAA thresholds, AND don't make Social Security benefits taxable seems like a huge advantage. Are there any downsides to Roth accounts that I should be aware of as I'm planning for the long term? It almost seems too good to be true that you can access this money tax-free without affecting other retirement benefits. Thanks to everyone who shared their real-world experiences - it's so much more helpful than trying to decode government websites!
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Ella Harper
•Great question about potential downsides! The main tradeoff with Roth accounts is that you pay taxes upfront on contributions (no immediate tax deduction like traditional accounts), so you need to consider your current vs. future tax bracket. If you're in a high tax bracket now but expect to be in a lower one in retirement, traditional accounts might make more sense. Also, Roth IRAs have income limits for direct contributions, though there are workarounds like backdoor Roths. And unlike traditional IRAs, Roths don't have required minimum distributions at 73, which is actually an advantage for flexibility but means less "forced" tax planning. The tax-free growth and withdrawal benefits you mentioned are real - it's one of the best deals in the tax code if you can afford to pay taxes upfront!
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