Social Security earnings limit gone after FRA - why is my 76-year-old mother still worried about income limits?

Your mom has nothing to worry about! There is absolutely NO earnings limit once you're past full retirement age (FRA). At 76, she can earn a million dollars if she wants to and it won't reduce her Social Security benefits one penny. The earnings limit only applies to people who claim benefits before their FRA. What her friend might be confused about is the tax situation. Up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxable if your combined income (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of SS benefits) exceeds certain thresholds. But that's just regular income tax, not a reduction in benefits.

YOUR MOM IS FINE!!!!! I'm 74 and STILL WORKING FULL TIME and the SSA doesn't take ANYTHING from my check! This is one of the biggest misunderstandings about SS! They only limit earnings BEFORE full retirement age! Tell your mom to work as much as she wants! The ONLY thing is taxes - if she makes enough, some of her SS might be taxable, but that's just regular income tax filing stuff, NOT SSA taking money back!

Your mother has received incorrect information. The Social Security earnings test (which limits how much you can earn while receiving benefits) only applies to people who are below their Full Retirement Age (FRA). Once someone reaches their FRA—which your mother passed 10 years ago—they can earn unlimited income without any reduction to their Social Security benefits. What might be causing confusion is that Social Security benefits can become taxable based on income: - If combined income (AGI + nontaxable interest + 1/2 of SS benefits) is between $25,000-$34,000 for individuals, up to 50% of benefits may be taxable - If combined income exceeds $34,000 for individuals, up to 85% of benefits may be taxable But this is about income tax, not benefit reduction. The actual benefit amount stays the same regardless of earnings.

my MIL went thru the same confusion last year when she started working again at 72!!! she was convinced they would take away her ss checks if she made too much. we had to show her the ssa website to convince her it was fine. they only reduce benefits if ur under FRA! once ur past that magic age u can earn whatever and keep ALL ur ss!

i think the $18,000 might be about the social security tax limit for 2023 which was $19,000 somethin. the person who told ur mom that probably confused different rules. theres no limit for her working but they might take more tax dependin on what she makes total. my dad works part time at home depot and hes 73 and ss doesnt care at all.

I work for a financial planner and this comes up ALL THE TIME with our older clients. Here's the simple truth: 1. After Full Retirement Age = NO EARNINGS LIMIT whatsoever 2. Under Full Retirement Age = There are earnings limits that can reduce benefits Your mom is 76, so she's well past FRA and can earn unlimited income without any reduction in SS benefits. The only consideration is taxes. If her combined income (AGI + non-taxable interest + half her SS benefits) exceeds certain thresholds, some of her SS benefits might be subject to income tax. But that's just normal tax filing stuff, not benefit reductions. Make sure she understands the difference!

I spent 45 minutes on hold with Social Security last month trying to get this exact question answered for my sister-in-law. It's amazing how widespread this misunderstanding is! If anyone needs to reach SSA with questions like this, I've been using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that gets you through to a live agent without the ridiculous wait times. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU But yes, as everyone has said, there is absolutely NO earnings limit once you're past full retirement age. Your mother can earn as much as she wants with no impact on her Social Security benefits. The only consideration is potential income tax on a portion of her benefits if her total income exceeds certain thresholds.

Please tell your mother that whoever told her this is COMPLETELY WRONG! I wish the SSA would do more to educate people about this because this misconception causes so many seniors to limit their work unnecessarily. I'm 71 and make over $60K at my consulting job and get EVERY PENNY of my Social Security without reduction. The person who told her this was probably confusing the earnings limit that applies BEFORE full retirement age with the tax situation that can happen at ANY age.

Just to add some specific numbers to help your mom understand her tax situation, since that's probably what her friend was confusing with benefit reductions: - Single filers with combined income between $25,000-$34,000 may have up to 50% of SS benefits subject to tax - Single filers with combined income above $34,000 may have up to 85% of SS benefits subject to tax "Combined income" means adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + 1/2 of Social Security benefits. But again, this is just about how much of her SS might be taxable on her tax return. It has absolutely no effect on the amount of her monthly benefit check from Social Security.