Social Security retirement earnings limit confusion - does the $22,320 include my SS benefits?
I'm really confused about the Social Security earnings test for early retirement. My husband just started collecting Social Security at 64 (in 2025), but wants to continue some part-time consulting work. When we spoke with SSA, they mentioned something about an annual earnings limit of $22,320 for people under FRA, but I'm not clear if this amount includes his benefits or is separate from them. For example, if his annual SS benefits are about $30,000, and the earnings limit is $22,320, does that mean: 1. He can earn an additional $22,320 from working (total income = $52,320) 2. His total income including benefits can't exceed $22,320 (meaning he could only earn about $7,320 from working) We're trying to budget for the next couple years until he reaches full retirement age. The SSA person wasn't very clear when explaining this. Anyone dealt with this recently?
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Ellie Kim
The earnings limit is only for WORK income, not your SS benefits. Your husband can earn up to $22,320 in 2025 from his consulting work without any reduction in his Social Security benefits. If he earns more than that limit, SSA will withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 he earns above the limit. His SS benefits themselves don't count toward this limit. This earnings test goes away once he reaches his full retirement age (66 + some months, depending on his birth year). At that point, he can earn unlimited income without any benefit reduction.
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Luis Johnson
•Thank you so much for explaining! That's a huge relief. So to be clear - he can receive his full $30,000 in benefits PLUS earn up to $22,320 from working without any penalty? And if he earns say $24,320 (which is $2,000 over the limit), they would just reduce his annual benefits by $1,000?
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Fiona Sand
my dad went thru this last year. the limit is ONLY for the money u EARN not the SS money they give u. if he goes over they take back some benefits but its not dollar for dollar
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Luis Johnson
•Thanks for sharing your dad's experience. Did they automatically adjust his monthly checks when he went over or did they make him pay it back the following year? Just trying to understand how this actually works in practice.
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Mohammad Khaled
I think your confusing the earned income with the total income. The $22,320 is just what he can earn from a job. The money from Social Security isn't counted in this. Basically he can make $22,320 from consulting + all his Social Security without problems. If he makes more than the limit, they start reducing his SS checks but not by the full amount.
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Alina Rosenthal
•Just to add a bit more clarity - once your husband reaches Full Retirement Age (probably 67 for him), the earnings test completely disappears! My wife and I planned very carefully around this limit for the 2 years before her FRA, and it was worth the planning. Make sure to track his earnings closely though - the SSA doesn't always catch overages right away and can demand repayment later which can be a nasty surprise.
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Finnegan Gunn
OMG I went through THE EXACT SAME confusion last year!!! The SSA people are TERRIBLE at explaining this! I got different answers from 3 different agents! Here's the REAL deal: the $22,320 is ONLY for work income. Your SS benefits don't count toward this at all!!! But be super careful because if he goes over even by a little they start taking away benefits and the calculations get weird. One other thing nobody told me - they count GROSS earnings not NET for self-employment. My husband had to pay back $4,300 because he thought it was based on his net income after business expenses! So frustrating!!!
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Luis Johnson
•Oh wow, that's a really important distinction about gross vs net for self-employment! Thank you for the warning. He'll be doing 1099 consulting work, so we need to be extra careful. Did they make your husband pay back the entire amount at once?
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Miguel Harvey
To clarify what others have said: 1. The annual earnings limit for someone under Full Retirement Age (FRA) in 2025 is $22,320 2. This limit ONLY applies to earned income (wages, self-employment) 3. Social Security benefits do NOT count toward this limit 4. If your husband exceeds the limit, SSA will withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above the limit 5. The earnings test disappears completely once he reaches FRA Also important to note: If 2025 is the year your husband first claimed benefits, SSA uses a monthly earnings test ($1,860/month) rather than annual for the remainder of that calendar year. This gives more flexibility in the first year of retirement.
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Luis Johnson
•That monthly test in the first year is new information - thank you! So since he just started benefits in January 2025, he could technically earn up to $1,860 each month rather than worrying about the annual total? That might actually work better for his consulting schedule.
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Ashley Simian
I retired at 64 back in 2023 and had the same question. They sure don't make this stuff easy to understand! The limit doesnt include your SS payments just the work money. But I will say trying to get someone at social security on the phone to explain it clearly was impossible. I had to wait almost 3 hours last time I called them! Super frustrating.
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Oliver Cheng
•I had the same frustrating experience trying to get through to SSA. I finally tried a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at Social Security in under 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Saved me hours of waiting and frustration. The agent I spoke with was actually really knowledgeable about the earnings limit rules and walked me through exactly how it would impact my specific situation.
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Mohammad Khaled
Something else to consider - even though there's a benefit reduction if he goes over the earnings limit, it's not actually "lost" forever. When he reaches full retirement age, SSA will recalculate his benefit amount to credit back those withheld benefits over time. Not many people realize this!
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Luis Johnson
•Really? I had no idea they credit it back! That makes me feel better about him potentially going over the limit occasionally if a good consulting opportunity comes up. There's so many nuances to these rules that aren't explained clearly on the SSA website.
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Taylor To
Does your huband have access to his Social Security statement online? The My Social Security account shows your estimated benefits and has a calculator that can help show how different earning levels affect benefits. It might help visualize the impact of different working scenarios.
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Luis Johnson
•Yes, he does have an online account. I didn't know about that calculator feature though! We'll definitely check that out tonight. Thank you for the suggestion!
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