Social Security earnings limit at FRA - is there an hours worked restriction besides the $59,520 limit?

There is no restriction on the number of hours you can work - it's solely based on your earnings. Social Security only looks at how much you make, not how long it takes you to make it. So if your employer wants you to work more hours but you stay under the $59,520 annual limit during the months before reaching your FRA, you won't trigger any benefit reductions.

my mom went thru this last year, they DONT care about hours AT ALL just the $$$ amount. she worked a ton of overtime but kept her income under the limit and everything was fine with her SS checks

I actually just went through this exact situation and can confirm it's ONLY about the earnings, not hours. BUT be super careful about how you track those earnings! Social Security counts income when it's EARNED not when it's PAID, which is different from how taxes work. I ended up with an overpayment notice because I had December 2023 earnings that weren't paid until January 2024, and SSA counted them for 2023 while I was thinking they counted for 2024. What a headache!

To be completely clear: The Social Security Administration only applies the earnings test based on income, not hours worked. In the year you reach your Full Retirement Age (2025 for you), the higher limit of $59,520 applies only to earnings in the months BEFORE your FRA month. Once you reach your FRA month, there's no limit at all - you can earn any amount without reduction of benefits. The earnings test works by withholding $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above the limit during that period before your FRA month. So if you exceed the limit by $3,000, SSA would withhold $1,000 in benefits. One important thing to consider is that if you expect to exceed the limit, you should proactively contact SSA to have them adjust your benefits rather than waiting for them to discover it later and potentially create an overpayment situation.

Trying to reach SSA to discuss this kind of planning is nearly impossible these days! I spent 3 hours on hold last week and then got disconnected. I've been trying to clarify my own earnings limit situation for weeks with no luck. Finally I tried this service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in less than 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - their website is claimyr.com. Saved me so much frustration!

This whole earnings limit thing is SO FRUSTRATING!!! Why should the government penalize us for working?? I lost $4800 in benefits last year because I accidentally went over by working extra shifts during the holidays. The whole system is designed to confuse people!

quick question - does anyone know if the earnings limit applies to investment income or just wages?? i have some stocks i might sell this year

Thanks everyone for the great information! To summarize what I've learned: there's NO hourly limit, just the earnings cap of $59,520 for months before FRA in 2025. I need to track when money is EARNED not paid, and be proactive about reporting if I might exceed the limit. Investment income doesn't count toward the limit, and any benefit reductions now will increase my benefit amount later. Really appreciate all the help!