Income limits on Social Security survivor benefits before FRA - Will working reduce my payments?
My husband passed away last year, and I'm considering filing for survivor benefits. I'm 62 now, still about 5 years from my full retirement age. The problem is I'm still working and make around $38,000 annually. I've heard there are income restrictions if you collect benefits early, but I'm confused about how these apply specifically to survivor benefits versus retirement. Will my survivor benefit be reduced if I keep working? And if so, by how much? Is there a certain income threshold I need to stay under? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
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CyberNinja
Yes, there definitely are earnings limits for survivor benefits before your FRA. I went through this exact situation last year. In 2025, the limit is $22,320 (for people reaching FRA after 2025). For every $2 you earn above that limit, they'll deduct $1 from your benefits. Since you're earning $38,000, you're about $15,680 over the limit, so they'd withhold about $7,840 from your annual survivor benefits. The month you reach FRA, these restrictions go away completely and you can earn as much as you want with no penalty. It's definitely something to calculate carefully before deciding when to file!
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Nia Johnson
•Thank you for explaining! So they'll reduce my survivor benefit by about $653 per month ($7,840 ÷ 12)? That seems like a lot... I was hoping to get at least something while continuing to work. Do they stop benefits completely if the reduction exceeds what I'd receive?
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Mateo Lopez
The previous reply is correct about the earnings limit, but I want to add something important - it's not just a straight $2 for $1 reduction spread evenly across months. SSA will actually withhold FULL monthly benefit payments until they've covered what you owe for the excess earnings. So if your monthly survivor benefit would be $1,500, they might withhold 5-6 full months of benefits rather than reducing each month a little bit. Also remember that survivor benefits taken early are permanently reduced. At 62, you'd only get about 71% of what you'd receive at your FRA. Have you considered waiting until at least 60% of the way to your FRA when the earnings limit becomes more generous?
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Nia Johnson
•Oh, I had no idea they withhold entire months! That changes my calculations completely. I definitely need to rethink this. What do you mean by the earnings limit becoming more generous at 60% to FRA? Is there a different threshold then?
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Aisha Abdullah
my wife died back in 2018 and i tried collecting at 63. big mistake!!!!! they took back almost everything cuz i was still workin. just wait til FRA unless ur really in financial trouble. not worth the hassle IMO
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Nia Johnson
•Sorry for your loss. It sounds like a lot of people have regrets about claiming early. I'm not in desperate financial trouble, but was hoping to reduce my work hours and supplement with survivor benefits. Seems like that might not work out as well as I'd hoped.
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Ethan Davis
You should also consider how survivor benefits interact with your own retirement benefits. If your own benefit at FRA would be higher than the survivor benefit, it might make sense to take the reduced survivor benefit now (even with the earnings limit) and then switch to your own higher benefit at 70 when it reaches its maximum value. Or vice versa - take your reduced retirement benefit early and then switch to the unreduced survivor benefit at your FRA. The optimal strategy depends on the relative amounts and your life expectancy. It's definitely worth speaking directly with an SSA rep to explore all your options before making a decision.
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Yuki Tanaka
•Good luck getting through to someone at SSA! I've been trying for WEEKS to talk to someone about my survivor benefits. Either constant busy signals or on hold for hours only to get disconnected. Absolute nightmare trying to get anyone to answer questions. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they got me connected to a real agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Totally worth it because the agent I spoke with helped me understand all my options with survivor benefits and earnings limitations. Ended up saving me from making a huge mistake with my filing strategy.
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Carmen Ortiz
I think everyone's forgetting to mention that there's a special earnings test for the first year you receive benefits! If you're retiring mid-year, they use a monthly test rather than annual, something like $1,860/month I think. Worth checking into if you're planning to stop working soon!
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Mateo Lopez
•Good point about the first year rule! For 2025, the monthly exempt amount is $1,860. This only applies in your first year of receiving benefits. After that, they switch to the annual figure. This can be helpful if you plan to retire partway through the year.
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MidnightRider
Wait I'm confused... does this earnings limit apply to SSI too? My cousin gets SSI and she's always worried about earning too much.
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Mateo Lopez
•No, this is completely different from SSI. The earnings test we're discussing applies to regular Social Security benefits (retirement, survivors, dependents) when claimed before Full Retirement Age. SSI (Supplemental Security Income) has much stricter income and asset limits because it's a needs-based program. For SSI, almost any income can reduce benefits on a different formula, and there are strict asset limits too.
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Yuki Tanaka
The whole SS system is RIGGED against working people!!! They take our money our whole lives then PUNISH us for working by reducing benefits. Meanwhile people who never worked a day in their lives get all kinds of free benefits!!! It's THEFT plain and simple. The earnings limits are RIDICULOUS and need to be abolished completely!!!!
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Aisha Abdullah
•ya its pretty messed up but the earnings limits do go away once u hit full retirement age. still anoying tho
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Ethan Davis
One more important thing about the earnings limit that hasn't been mentioned yet - it only applies to wages or self-employment income. It does NOT apply to investment income, pension payments, annuities, capital gains, rental income, or other non-work sources. So if you have income from investments or rentals, that won't reduce your survivor benefits at all. Also, if your benefits are withheld due to working, when you reach FRA, your benefit amount will be recalculated to give you credit for those months when benefits were withheld. So you do eventually get some adjustment for the withheld benefits.
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Nia Johnson
•That's really good to know about investment income not counting! I do have some dividend income and a small rental property that brings in about $900/month. And I had no idea they adjust your benefit amount later for the withheld months. There's so much more to this than I realized.
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CyberNinja
After working through all this with my own survivor benefits last year, my suggestion would be to run the numbers carefully. Calculate exactly what your survivor benefit would be (reduced for early claiming), how much would be withheld based on your earnings, and compare that to waiting until FRA for unreduced benefits. For me, even with the earnings test, claiming early still made mathematical sense because I needed the income and expected to live a long time. Everyone's situation is different though!
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Nia Johnson
•Thank you! I'll definitely run the numbers carefully. I might look into reducing my work hours to get under that earnings threshold too. It's a lot to think about, but I appreciate everyone's insights.
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