Will 2025 earnings limit affect me if I wait until FRA in November to collect Social Security?
I'm helping my sister figure out her Social Security strategy and want to make sure I'm giving her correct information. Her Full Retirement Age (FRA) is November 1, 2025. She plans to keep working until then and start collecting her SS benefits exactly at her FRA, not before. She'll earn about $78,000 in 2025 before reaching her FRA in November. My question is: Does she need to worry about the 2025 annual earnings limit of $62,160 for those first 10 months of 2025 when she's still working but not yet collecting benefits? I'm pretty sure the earnings limit only matters if you're actually receiving benefits before FRA, but want to double-check so I don't give her bad advice. Thanks for any clarity!
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NebulaNinja
Your understanding is correct! The earnings test only applies during months when you're actually receiving Social Security benefits before reaching your Full Retirement Age. Since your sister won't start benefits until she reaches her FRA in November 2025, the earnings limit won't affect her at all - she can earn as much as she wants during those first 10 months of 2025 without any penalty or reduction. The $62,160 limit would only matter if she decided to start benefits earlier in the year before reaching her FRA.
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Natasha Romanova
•Thank you so much for confirming! That's what I thought, but Social Security rules can be so confusing sometimes. This will be a relief for her to hear.
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Javier Gomez
Yep exactly right, she can make a million bucks before FRA and SS won't care as long as she's not collecting benefits yet. Just one thing to keep in mind - when she does apply, she should do it a few months BEFORE November to make sure everything processes in time. SS is slow!
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Natasha Romanova
•That's a good point about applying early. How far in advance would you recommend she submit her application? I heard 3 months, but is that enough time?
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Emma Wilson
Wait I'm confused... doesn't SS look at your ANNUAL income for the year? So if she makes $78k but the limit is $62k, wouldn't they still reduce her benefits for November and December? Cuz they look at the whole year's earnings?
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Malik Thomas
•That's actually a common misunderstanding. Once you reach your Full Retirement Age, the earnings test no longer applies at all - even for the remainder of that calendar year. The SSA applies a monthly earnings test in the year you reach FRA, but it only counts earnings before the month you reach FRA. So in this case, her sister's $78,000 earned before November won't matter because she isn't collecting benefits during those months.
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Isabella Oliveira
I went thru this EXACT thing last year! You're right - her earnings before FRA won't matter if she's not collecting. Just make sure she actually WAITS until her FRA to start. My cousin thought the same but accidentally applied 2 months early and got hit with the limit. Cost her over $3000!!!
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Ravi Kapoor
•OMG that would be devastating to lose that much! Did your cousin try to appeal or get those benefits back somehow? The SSA website is so confusing when trying to pick your start date. I'm not even close to retirement age but I'm already worried about messing it up when my time comes!
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Freya Larsen
I want to clarify something important here: when your sister applies for benefits, she should specifically indicate November 2025 as her benefit start month. The application allows you to choose your benefit start month, and it doesn't have to match when you submit the application. I recommend applying approximately 3 months before her intended start date (so around August 2025) to ensure everything processes smoothly. But she should be very clear on the application that benefits should START in November 2025, not earlier.
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Natasha Romanova
•That's incredibly helpful to know! I'll make sure she specifies November 2025 as her start month when she applies. Is there anywhere specific on the application where she needs to pay extra attention to make sure she doesn't accidentally select an earlier start date?
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Malik Thomas
Your analysis is 100% accurate. To add a bit more technical detail: SSA uses a monthly earnings test in the year you reach FRA, and it only applies to months BEFORE reaching FRA when you're actually receiving benefits. The 2025 monthly earnings limit for those months would be $5,180/month ($62,160 ÷ 12), but since your sister won't be collecting benefits during those months, her earnings won't trigger any reduction. When she does reach FRA in November, the earnings test disappears completely - she can earn unlimited amounts while receiving her full Social Security retirement benefit. This is one of the significant advantages of waiting until exactly FRA to begin benefits.
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Natasha Romanova
•Thanks for that detailed explanation! One more question if you don't mind - once she starts benefits in November at her FRA, does she need to notify Social Security about her continued earnings, or do they get that information automatically through tax reporting?
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Emma Wilson
When i tried to reach SS to ask about this same thing it took DAYS!!! I finally found Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they got me through to an agent in 20 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - SUCH a lifesaver when you need to actually talk to someone at Social Security about complicated retirement questions like this!
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Natasha Romanova
•I've never heard of this service before! My sister might need this when it's time to actually apply. Did they charge a lot for the service?
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Emma Wilson
•It's not free but worth every penny considering I'd wasted hours on hold before. They just help you skip the phone wait time to talk directly with actual SSA agents. The peace of mind from getting my questions answered officially was totally worth it.
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Isabella Oliveira
Did anyone mention how the payments work when she starts? She won't get a november payment in november, SS pays a month behind so her first check will come in DECEMBER for the november benefit. took me by surprise when i retired!!
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Freya Larsen
•That's an excellent point about payment timing. Social Security benefits are indeed paid in the month following the month for which they are due. So her first payment (for November 2025) would arrive in December 2025. It's important to factor this into financial planning for that transition period.
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Ravi Kapoor
I think everyone is overthinking this lol. Your friend just needs to wait till she's fully retired age (November) and she'll be fine. All this talk about earnings limits is just confusing everyone. SSA doesn't care what you make before you start taking money from them!
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Malik Thomas
•While you're right about the fundamental answer, understanding why the earnings limit doesn't apply in this case is actually quite important. Many people misunderstand this rule and either delay work unnecessarily or face unexpected benefit reductions. The details matter when it comes to optimizing Social Security benefits.
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