Social Security earnings limit when retiring at 62 with dependent children - tax impacts for 2026?

Yes, there's definitely an earnings limit when you claim SS before your Full Retirement Age (FRA). For 2025 it's $22,320 and 2026 will likely be around $23,000 (they adjust it annually). Since you'll earn $31,000, you'll be about $8,000 over the limit. SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn over the limit, so they'd withhold about $4,000 from your payments. And yes, this affects your dependent children too. When YOUR benefits are withheld due to the earnings test, THEIR benefits are also affected proportionally. Also remember you'll face a permanent reduction of about 30% by claiming at 62 versus waiting until FRA.

im in this EXACT situation right now!!!! turned 62 last month and am still working. SSA is holding my checks AND my daughters check (shes 15) until i make less. its SO FRUSTRATING!!! they take ALL the checks upfront until they think theyve taken enough, then they start paying u later in the year. at least thats what the lady told me when i FINALLY got thru on the phone.

Wait until you stop working completely! The reduction at 62 is permanent and you'll lose some of your money anyway from the earnings limit. I waited until my FRA and I'm glad I did.

Just curious - has anyone actually tried to contact SSA directly to discuss this? I've been trying to get through on the phone for 3 weeks about a similar issue and I just keep getting disconnected after waiting on hold for hours.

Regarding the tax implications you asked about - yes, there definitely are some. Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable depending on your "combined income" (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of your SS benefits). For 2025, if you file as an individual and your combined income is: - Below $25,000: no tax on benefits - $25,000-$34,000: up to 50% of benefits taxable - Above $34,000: up to 85% of benefits taxable These thresholds are slightly higher if you're married filing jointly. Since you'll still have substantial earnings in 2026, you'll likely have some portion of your benefits subject to income tax.

My brother tried to do what ur planning and Social Security took all his money for the first 4 months!!! And his kids didn't get anything those months either. GOVERNMENT THEFT is what I call it!!!!

One thing I don't see mentioned yet is that the earnings test works differently in the first year you retire. If you have a clean break in employment (meaning you earn under a certain monthly limit after you "retire"), SSA can apply a monthly earnings test rather than annual. For example, if you fully retire in May 2026 and have no significant earnings after that, they would only count earnings from January-April against you. This is called the Mid-Year Retirement Grace Year Rule. In your case, since you'll continue part-time work through December, you wouldn't qualify for this exception, and they'd use your full annual earnings of $31,000 when applying the test.

Regarding your dependent children - the rules can be complicated, but here's what you need to know: 1. Each eligible child can receive up to 50% of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) - that's your benefit amount at full retirement age before any reductions or increases. 2. There's a Family Maximum Benefit (FMB) that caps the total amount all family members can receive on your record (typically 150-180% of your PIA). 3. The earnings test affects the TOTAL family benefits - if your benefits are withheld, your children's benefits are proportionally reduced. 4. Children's benefits end when they turn 18 (or 19 if still in high school). Since your children are 14 and 16 now, they'll be 15 and 17 in 2026. That means they'll only be eligible for about 3 years and 1 year respectively. This timing factor might make filing earlier more advantageous despite the earnings test reductions.

has anyone noticed that the rules for SS are IMPOSSIBLE to figure out?? i swear they make it complicated on purpose!!!

I'm in a similar situation and wanted to share what I learned from my SSA consultation. One key point that might help your decision: when you have dependent children, the potential benefits they receive can sometimes offset the earnings test penalties, even with the early filing reduction. For example, if your PIA is $2,000/month, your reduced benefit at 62 would be about $1,400. But your two children could each receive up to $1,000/month (50% of your PIA), subject to family maximum. Even if the earnings test reduces everyone's benefits by 30-40%, you might still come out ahead compared to waiting and losing those months of children's benefits entirely. I'd strongly recommend getting a detailed benefit estimate that shows both scenarios: filing at 62 with earnings vs. waiting until you fully retire. The SSA can run these projections for you, and it might surprise you which option provides more total lifetime benefits for your family.

This is such a complex situation! As someone who's been researching Social Security strategies, I want to emphasize that the decision really depends on your specific numbers. Here's what I'd suggest: 1. **Get exact benefit projections** - Contact SSA (or use a service like others mentioned) to get precise estimates of your PIA and what your children's benefits would be. This will help you calculate whether the combined family benefits (even reduced by earnings test) exceed what you'd get by waiting. 2. **Consider the timing window** - Your 16-year-old will only be eligible for about 2 years max, while your 14-year-old has about 4 years. That's potentially $50,000+ in benefits they could receive if you file early, versus $0 if you wait. 3. **Don't forget the "first year rule"** - As Jasmine mentioned, if you could arrange to stop working completely by May 2026 instead of continuing part-time through December, you might avoid most of the earnings test penalty while still capturing those crucial months of children's benefits. 4. **Tax planning** - With $31K in earnings plus SS benefits, you'll likely owe taxes on 50-85% of your SS benefits. Factor this into your calculations. The math might actually favor filing early despite the complications. Have you considered meeting with a Social Security claiming specialist to run the exact numbers?

As a newcomer to this community, I wanted to share some additional considerations that might help with your decision, Saleem. I recently went through a similar analysis for a family member, and one thing that really stood out was the importance of looking at the "survivor benefit" implications. If something were to happen to you, your children would be eligible for survivor benefits based on your earnings record. However, these survivor benefits are calculated based on your actual benefit amount at the time of death - not your PIA. So if you take the 30% reduction by filing at 62, that reduction would carry forward to their potential survivor benefits as well. On the flip side, given that your older child only has about 2 years of eligibility remaining, the guaranteed income from dependent benefits (even if reduced by the earnings test) might outweigh the long-term survivor benefit considerations. Also, I haven't seen anyone mention that you might want to explore whether your employer offers any flexibility with your part-time schedule. If you could structure your work to earn less than the monthly earnings limit after you file (around $1,900/month for 2026), you could potentially qualify for that first-year retirement rule that Jasmine mentioned earlier. This could be a game-changer for your situation. Have you calculated what your actual monthly earnings would be from that $31K annual part-time income?