Social Security earnings limit confusion for seasonal self-employment - $22,320 yearly or monthly calculation?

the $22,320 is annual not monthly so you can earn that much total for the year from what i understand. but i think if u make more than that they take back $1 for every $2 over the limit

The $22,320 annual earnings limit for 2025 applies to the entire year, not per month. However, there's also a Monthly Earnings Test that could be very beneficial for you as a seasonal worker. Under the Monthly Earnings Test, in the first year you claim benefits, you can receive full benefits for any month you earn below the monthly limit ($1,860 in 2025) AND don't perform "substantial services" in self-employment. For self-employment, the 45-hour rule you mentioned is important. Social Security considers you performing "substantial services" if you: - Work more than 45 hours in a month in your business, OR - Work between 15-45 hours and it's in a highly skilled occupation or managing a sizeable business Since you're just mowing lawns by yourself, the 15-45 hour middle range would likely not be considered substantial unless you're managing multiple employees or contracts. So your strategy could be: 1) In your working months: Track your hours carefully. Try to stay under 45 hours per month. If you go over, you'll likely lose benefits for that specific month. 2) Non-working months: You should receive full benefits regardless of your annual total. Does that help clarify things?

When I started collecting SS at 63 i had similar issues with my real estate business. The SSA will take back $1 for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. BUT they do it by reducing or eliminating your monthly payments until they recover the amount. They don't spread it evenly, they just stop paying you until they get it back!!! So if you go over by $5,680 for the year, they'll want back $2,840 and might withhold 2-3 months of payments completely. It's a pain.

To answer your follow-up question: Yes, you need to track both income and hours each month. If you work over 45 hours or earn over $1,860 in July, you would lose just that month's benefit. The monthly earnings test is applied separately for each month in your first year of retirement. After your first year on benefits, only the annual test applies. Also important for self-employment: SSA counts your net earnings (after business expenses), not gross income. So keep track of all legitimate business expenses like equipment, gas, maintenance, etc. to reduce your countable income.

I went through this EXACT situation with my seasonal fishing charter business. Let me tell you, trying to get clear answers from the Social Security office was IMPOSSIBLE. Called for weeks and kept getting disconnected or put on hold for hours only to get different answers from different people. Finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual SSA agent in under 5 minutes. Worth every penny. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or visit claimyr.com. The agent I spoke with confirmed everything that people mentioned here about the monthly test vs. annual test. My strategy ended up being to carefully track hours (I stay under 40 to be safe) and shift some of my income to the following year when possible. Been working great for 2 years now!

This whole system is COMPLETELY BROKEN!!! I tried to do the monthly earnings thing with my construction business and SS said I was actually over the limit for the YEAR so they took back $4,300!!! They sent me a notice saying I had to pay it ALL back at once or they'd take it from future checks. I had to borrow money from my daughter to cover bills. DON'T TRUST WHAT ANYONE TELLS YOU ON THE PHONE! Get everything in writing because these people will tell you one thing and then do something completely different later!!!!

To answer your question about their end-of-year review - yes, they will ask about which months you worked and how many hours. This is why detailed records are crucial. When they did my review, they wanted to see: - Monthly net earnings - Hours worked each month - Type of work performed each month I created a simple spreadsheet tracking days/hours worked and income/expenses by month. They accepted this as proof. The agent I spoke with mentioned that many self-employed people get caught at tax time because they don't have this documentation separated by month.

my cousin works seasonally at a golf course and collects SS. he said the most important thing is what month you START getting benefits. if you start in october after your busy season you can make as much as you want that year before october! might be worth waiting to apply until after your busy season ends???

another thing to think about is that once u hit full retirement age none of this matters anymore! at 67 u can earn as much as u want with no penalties. so maybe just wait til then if u can?? that's what my neighbor did with his business

Just wanted to add something that might help with your record-keeping - I use a simple phone app to track my hours in real-time while I'm working. Takes literally 2 seconds to start/stop the timer each day, and at the end of the month I have exact hours worked without having to guess or reconstruct from memory. For income tracking, I also recommend setting up a separate business checking account if you don't already have one. Makes it super easy to track monthly income and expenses when tax time comes around, and SSA loves clean records if they ever audit your monthly earnings. One more tip - consider getting your earnings estimate from SSA.gov before you start collecting. That way you'll know exactly what your monthly benefit will be, which helps with budgeting around the earnings limits. Good luck with your lawn care business!