Social Security earnings limit after turning FRA in mid-April - can husband work part-time without penalty?
My husband turns full retirement age (FRA) on April 22, 2025, and we're trying to figure out the best time for him to start collecting Social Security. I've heard such conflicting information about the earnings test! He's already earned about $31,500 this year before his birthday (way over the $23,400 limit for people under FRA). After his birthday, he wants to work part-time (about 16 hours weekly) at his current job. Does he need to wait until May 1st to officially apply for benefits? Or can he apply in April since that's when he hits FRA? More importantly, will SSA penalize him for the earnings before FRA even though he's applying at/after FRA? The whole month of birth vs. following month thing is really confusing me. Also wondering if his part-time income after FRA might still trigger some kind of review or penalty. Any experience with this situation would be so helpful!
14 comments
Join the conversation
Diez Ellis
The good news is that once your husband reaches his Full Retirement Age, the earnings limit no longer applies at all - he can earn as much as he wants with no reduction in benefits. The important thing to understand is the "month of attainment" rule. For the year he reaches FRA, SSA only counts earnings BEFORE the month he reaches FRA. Once he reaches FRA month (April 2025 in your case), he's free from the earnings test for that month and forever after. So: 1. He can apply in April (his FRA month) 2. Only earnings from January-March 2025 count toward the limit 3. His part-time work after FRA won't affect his benefits at all Yes, he might get a reduction for those pre-FRA months if he earned over the limit in Jan-Mar. SSA will calculate this specifically based on his earnings during those months, not the whole year.
0 coins
Noland Curtis
•Thank you so much for this clear explanation! So if I understand correctly, they'll only look at his January-March earnings (not April) to determine if there's a penalty? And even though those 3 months put him over the yearly limit, they'll only reduce benefits for those specific months when he was over, not ongoing after FRA?
0 coins
Vanessa Figueroa
my stepdad went thru this last year. he waited till the month AFTER his birthday month just to be super safe. the SSA people are so confusing sometimes lol. better to just wait the extra month than risk them messing up your benefits!!
0 coins
Abby Marshall
I think some people are getting confused here. Let me clarify how this specifically works with your husband's April 22nd FRA date: 1. For the months BEFORE April, the annual earnings limit applies ($23,400 for 2025) 2. For April and beyond, NO earnings limit applies 3. For months before FRA where he exceeded the limit: SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 over the limit Since he's already earned $31,500 before April, he's $8,100 over the limit for those months. That means approximately $4,050 in benefits might be withheld IF he started collecting in January. But if he applies in April (his FRA month), those prior earnings don't matter because he's not collecting benefits during the months he was over the limit. Starting benefits in his FRA month means: - No penalty for prior earnings - No limit on future earnings You can actually apply up to 4 months before you want benefits to start. So he could apply now and specify April as his start month.
0 coins
Noland Curtis
•This makes SO much more sense! So since he hasn't applied yet and won't start collecting until April when he reaches FRA, those earnings from Jan-Mar won't matter at all? That's a huge relief. He was worried they'd somehow look back at his prior earnings even if he waited until FRA to collect.
0 coins
Sadie Benitez
Something that hasn't been mentioned yet - April benefits are paid in May anyway. Social Security always pays a month behind. So regardless of whether he applies for April or May benefits, he'll receive his first payment in May. This timing detail sometimes causes confusion. But to your main question - the month he reaches FRA (April) is EXEMPT from the earnings test. Only Jan-March would count toward the test, and only if he's receiving benefits for those months. If he applies for benefits to start in April, those prior earnings won't affect him at all because he wasn't receiving benefits during those months. One final tip: When he applies, make absolutely sure the SSA representative understands he wants benefits to START in April 2025 (not backdated). Sometimes they try to be "helpful" by giving you retroactive benefits, which would create the exact penalty situation you're trying to avoid.
0 coins
Drew Hathaway
•EXACTLY THIS!!! The SSA automatically tried to backdate my benefits when I applied at FRA and it caused a HUGE headache with the earnings test. Make sure to be CRYSTAL CLEAR about the start date!!!
0 coins
Laila Prince
Has anyone actually tried calling SSA to get this clarified? I spent 4 HOURS on hold last week trying to get a simple question answered about my wife's benefits. Never got through. The phone system is completely broken.
0 coins
Isabel Vega
•I had the same problem trying to reach them about my husband's benefits! After three days of failed attempts, I found a service called Claimyr that got me connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes. It was so much better than waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU and their website is claimyr.com. Totally worth it for getting these complex earnings test questions answered by an actual agent.
0 coins
Vanessa Figueroa
wait i'm confused again... so does he need to actually STOP working those 2 months before FRA or just not apply for benefits until FRA? my head hurts with all these rules lol
0 coins
Abby Marshall
•He doesn't need to stop working at all. He just needs to apply for benefits to START in his FRA month (April) or later. He can keep working however much he wants before and after FRA - the only thing that matters is when he starts receiving Social Security payments. The earnings test only applies to months BEFORE FRA when you're RECEIVING benefits. If you're not receiving benefits yet, the test doesn't apply.
0 coins
Noland Curtis
Thank you all for the helpful responses! I just spoke with my husband and showed him all this information. We're going to apply this week but make sure his start date is set for April when he reaches FRA. So grateful for the warning about making sure they don't backdate his application - we wouldn't have thought of that! It's such a relief to know he can continue his part-time schedule without worrying about penalties. The Social Security website makes this all seem so much more complicated than it needed to be.
0 coins
Diez Ellis
•Glad we could help! One last tip - after you apply, check his my Social Security account online about a week later to verify the start date was entered correctly. You'll see the pending application with the month benefits begin. If it shows anything other than April, call immediately to have it corrected before processing completes.
0 coins
Laila Prince
The REAL problem here is that Social Security's rules are needlessly complicated and their website explains things terribly. I had to read books and hire a financial advisor just to figure out the best way to claim. And don't even get me started on their calculators...
0 coins