Does rental income affect my Social Security benefits before reaching FRA?

Good news! Rental income is considered unearned income (passive income) and does NOT count toward the earnings test that applies before full retirement age. Only wages from a job or net earnings from self-employment count toward that limit. So you can collect both your Social Security benefits and your rental income without any reduction to your benefits, even before reaching your FRA. The $21,240 earnings limit for 2025 only applies to active work income.

u sure about that?? my uncle got his ss check cut because he was making too much from his duplex. the ssa lady told him any income counts toward the limit.

There's actually an important distinction here. The way the IRS treats rental income vs. how Social Security treats it are two different things: 1. For the SS earnings test, rental income is typically NOT counted as earned income unless you're in the business of real estate (like a broker or developer). 2. However, if you provide "substantial services" with the rental, it might be considered self-employment income. Substantial services means doing much more than just basic management - like providing meals, cleaning services, etc. For most typical landlords who just collect rent and handle basic maintenance, rental income won't affect your Social Security benefits before FRA. You can verify this by checking SSA's Program Operations Manual System (POMS) section RS 02505.055 or by calling SSA directly to confirm for your specific situation.

wait i thought ALL income affected SS?? this is confusing... so investment interest and dividends dont count either??

I had to deal with this last year. Rent DOES NOT count for the earnings test, but it DOES count when they figure out if your benefits are taxable. It's so irritating how complicated they make everything!!! Who can keep track of all these different rules????

I struggled with getting clear answers from SSA about this exact question last year. I kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours on their 800 number. I finally found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent confirmed what others are saying here - rental income doesn't count toward the earnings test. She also explained exactly how it might affect the taxation of my benefits, which was super helpful for my planning.

my cousin has rental properties and he said it depends on if you're doing the property management yourself or hiring someone. if you're doing everything yourself the ssa might consider it self employment!!!

Here's another wrinkle to consider - if you're buying this property with a mortgage, the interest deduction might actually HELP your tax situation overall, even with the rental income. I'm not a tax professional, but it worked out that way for me. Just something to think about as part of the bigger financial picture.

To summarize for anyone else finding this thread: 1. Rental income does NOT count toward the earnings test that applies before Full Retirement Age 2. Only wages from employment or net earnings from self-employment count 3. Simply managing your own property does NOT make it self-employment 4. Rental income DOES count for determining if your Social Security benefits are taxable 5. At Full Retirement Age, the earnings test goes away completely and you can earn unlimited amounts from any source without affecting your benefits The official SSA page explaining the earnings test is here: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html