Social Security retirement earnings limit confusion - does the $22,320 include my SS benefits?

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.

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

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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!

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.

One thing I'd add that helped me when I went through this with my mom - keep really good records of all earnings throughout the year. SSA sometimes doesn't get updated W-2 or 1099 information right away, so having your own documentation can save a lot of headaches if there are any discrepancies later. Also, if your husband is doing consulting work, remember that quarterly estimated tax payments might be required since taxes won't be withheld automatically. The IRS has a safe harbor rule where you can pay 100% of last year's tax liability to avoid penalties, which can be helpful when income is variable from consulting. Good luck navigating this - it's definitely confusing at first but once you understand the rules it becomes much more manageable!

I went through this exact same situation with my spouse two years ago! The confusion is totally understandable because the SSA representatives really aren't consistent in how they explain it. Here's what I learned after dealing with this firsthand: The $22,320 earnings limit is ONLY for work income - wages, self-employment, consulting fees, etc. Your husband's $30,000 in Social Security benefits doesn't count toward this limit at all. So yes, option #1 is correct - he can receive his full $30,000 in SS benefits AND earn up to $22,320 from consulting work without any penalty (total income = $52,320). One thing that really helped us was setting up a simple tracking system. I created a monthly spreadsheet to monitor his consulting income so we could stay well under the limit. We also learned that if you do go over, they don't take benefits away permanently - they get credited back when you reach full retirement age, though the cash flow impact in the short term can still be tough. The earnings test completely disappears once he hits his full retirement age, so this is really just a temporary consideration for the next few years. Hang in there - once you get the hang of tracking it, it becomes much more manageable!