Will RMDs from inherited IRA count against Social Security earnings limit if taking survivor benefits at 62?

Good news! RMDs from an inherited IRA are NOT considered earned income for Social Security purposes. The earnings test only counts wages from employment or net earnings from self-employment. Investment income, including RMDs, interest, dividends, and capital gains are all exempt from the earnings test calculation. So you can receive those RMDs without worrying about them affecting your survivor benefits. However, if you're still working part-time, those wages WILL count toward the annual earnings limit ($21,240 in 2025 if you're under full retirement age for the full year).

I had EXACTLY this situation last year! RMDs from inherited accounts DON'T count for the earnings test, but they absolutely DO count for determining if your Social Security benefits are taxable. Up to 85% of your SS can be taxed depending on your "combined income" (AGI + nontaxable interest + 1/2 of SS benefits). The RMDs pushed me over a threshold and I ended up paying tax on 85% of my benefits which I wasn't expecting!!

my mother inlaw takes survivors and has an inherited ira... the rmd doesn't count for the earnings test but she still has to be careful with her part time job at the library. went over by $340 last year and they took back $170 in benefits! make sure you track your earnings carefully if you work

I'm going to disagree with some of the other posters. I THINK all income counts toward the limit!!! My neighbor took early retirement at 63 and lost benefits because of his IRA. The SSA doesn't distinguish between different types of income! Be VERY CAREFUL or you might have to pay back benefits!!!!

To clarify for everyone: RMDs from inherited IRAs are considered UNEARNED income, so they don't count toward the earnings test limit (which only applies to wages and self-employment income). However, they DO count for determining whether your Social Security benefits are taxable. Also, remember that in the year you reach Full Retirement Age (FRA), the earnings limit is much higher ($56,520 in 2025), and only earnings before the month you reach FRA count. After FRA, there's no earnings limit at all.

I've been dealing with this exact situation and spent HOURS on the phone with Social Security trying to get answers. You might find this helpful - I tried for THREE DAYS to reach someone at SSA who could answer my questions about inherited IRAs and survivors benefits. Always got the dreaded busy signal or disconnected. Finally, I discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me through to an agent in under 30 minutes! They have a demo video here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. The SSA agent confirmed that RMDs don't count for the earnings limit, but do affect taxation. Saved me so much frustration after days of trying to call on my own.

Here's another important consideration - if you're planning to take survivor benefits early and then switch to your own retirement benefits later (which can be a smart strategy), you should really check if the RMDs might push your income high enough to cause more of your SS to be taxed. That could affect whether taking survivor benefits early is actually advantageous.

To add to what others have said: If you're worried about accidentally going over the earnings limit with your part-time work, you can contact SSA and ask them to do a "midyear recalculation" if your earnings will be lower than expected. That way you won't have benefits withheld unnecessarily. I've done this when I reduced my working hours mid-year.

Thanks everyone for all this helpful information! I think I understand now that the RMDs won't count against the earnings limit (big relief!), but I need to watch out for: 1. Making sure my part-time work stays under the annual limit 2. Considering how the RMDs might affect the taxation of my Social Security benefits 3. Thinking about whether the survivor-to-retirement benefit switch makes sense with my RMDs I appreciate all the insights and personal experiences shared here. Really helps with this complicated decision!

One more thing to consider - since you inherited the IRA from your brother, make sure you're aware of the 10-year rule that applies to most non-spouse beneficiaries. You'll need to empty the entire inherited IRA by December 31st of the 10th year following your brother's death. This might affect your timing strategy for when to take survivor benefits vs. your own retirement benefits, especially if you'll have larger distributions in later years that could push you into higher tax brackets when combined with Social Security. You might want to consider doing some Roth conversions in lower-income years to spread out the tax impact, though that's definitely something to discuss with a tax professional given the complexity with Social Security taxation thresholds.