Will earning $10,500 at age 64 reduce my Social Security benefits? Confused about earnings test
I'm planning to claim Social Security next year when I turn 64, but need to keep working part-time at my bookkeeping job where I make about $10,500 annually. I'm confused about whether this income will reduce my monthly SS payment because of that earnings limit rule? Also wondering if my husband's income affects MY benefits at all? He's 66 and 8 months now and retiring this year at his full retirement age. I'm torn between claiming early at 64 or waiting until my full retirement age in 2028. The extra money would help now, but I don't want to mess things up long-term. This whole Social Security thing is overwhelming me!
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Mei Zhang
The earnings test WILL affect you if you claim at 64. For 2025, you can earn up to $22,320 without reduction if you're under full retirement age for the entire year. Since you're only earning $10,500, you're well under that limit, so your benefits won't be reduced! Your husband's wages don't count toward YOUR earnings test - only your own earnings matter for this rule.
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Jamal Brown
•Thank you! That's a relief about my benefits not being reduced. Do you know if there's any advantage to waiting until my full retirement age? I keep hearing about "maximizing" benefits but I'm not sure if that applies to my situation.
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Liam McConnell
i took mine early like ur thinking and wish i hadnt. the reduction is PERMANENT so less money forever. if u can wait til FRA that extra $ adds up big time over the years
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Amara Oluwaseyi
•This is absolutely right. The reduction for claiming at 64 is about 13.3% FOREVER compared to your Full Retirement Age benefit. And if you can wait past FRA, you get an 8% increase for EACH YEAR you delay until age 70. That's a huge difference in monthly income for the rest of your life!
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CosmicCaptain
Has anyone tried calling the SSA about this? I spent THREE HOURS on hold last week trying to ask about my widows benefits and then got disconnected!!! It's IMPOSSIBLE to get a real person on the phone these days. So frustrating!!!
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Giovanni Rossi
•I had the same problem but found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a real person at SSA in about 20 minutes instead of hours on hold. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. It was worth it for me because I needed to resolve an overpayment issue that couldn't wait. Saved me hours of frustration.
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Fatima Al-Maktoum
when i retired i got so confused with all the SS stuff! my husband worked longer than me so his benefit was bigger and i actually ended up getting half of his instead of my own. you should ask if that applies to your situation too
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Mei Zhang
•Good point! This is called a spousal benefit, and it's up to 50% of your husband's full retirement age benefit. You should definitely check if that would be higher than your own retirement benefit. But remember, if you claim ANY benefit before your full retirement age, it gets reduced - including spousal benefits.
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Dylan Mitchell
Let me clear up a few things for you: 1) The 2025 earnings limit for someone under FRA is $22,320. Since you'll earn $10,500, your benefits won't be reduced. 2) Only YOUR earnings count for YOUR earnings test. Your husband's income is irrelevant to your benefit reduction. 3) Claiming at 64 means a permanent reduction of about 13.3% compared to your FRA amount. 4) Each year you delay beyond FRA (until 70) adds 8% to your monthly benefit (permanently). 5) You might qualify for spousal benefits if 50% of your husband's FRA benefit exceeds your own benefit amount. I recommend creating a my.ssa.gov account to see your estimated benefit amounts at different ages. This will help you make an informed decision based on your specific numbers.
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Jamal Brown
•Thank you so much for laying everything out so clearly! I'll create that account today to check the numbers. It seems like waiting until at least my FRA might be the smarter move financially in the long run, especially since my part-time work will cover some expenses in the meantime.
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Liam McConnell
one other thing to think about is how long u think ull live. if ur family tends to live into 90s then waiting for bigger checks makes more sense. if not then maybe taking it early is ok
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Fatima Al-Maktoum
•This is what I always think about too! My grandmother lived to 97 so I waited until 68 to start my SS. My brother has health problems so he took his at 62. Depends on your situation!
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Amara Oluwaseyi
Another factor to consider is that when one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse keeps the HIGHER of the two benefit amounts (not both). This is why it can be a smart strategy for the higher-earning spouse to delay claiming as long as possible - it creates a larger survivor benefit. If your husband's benefit is significantly higher than yours will be, that's already taken care of. But if your benefit will be close to or higher than his, you might want to factor this into your decision.
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Jamal Brown
•I hadn't even thought about the survivor benefit aspect! His benefit will be quite a bit higher than mine since I worked part-time for many years while raising our kids. That's definitely something to consider. Thank you for bringing this up!
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CosmicCaptain
WAIT A MINUTE! Doesn't the earnings limit change in the year you reach FRA? I think it's different for the months of that year before your birthday. The rules are SO CONFUSING!!!
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Dylan Mitchell
•You're absolutely correct. In the year you reach your Full Retirement Age, there's a higher earnings limit that applies only for the months before your birthday month. For 2025, this higher limit is estimated to be around $59,520, and they only count earnings in the months before you reach FRA. Also, they only deduct $1 for every $3 above this limit (instead of the $1 for every $2 deduction that applies when you're under FRA). After you reach FRA, there's no earnings limit at all.
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Liam McConnell
my sil got in big trouble with SS cuz she went over the limit and didnt tell them. they made her pay back thousands!! make sure u report if u earn more than u think
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Mei Zhang
•That's an important warning. The SSA requires you to report if your earnings will exceed the annual limit. If you don't and they find out later (which they will through tax records), you'll face an overpayment situation and have to pay back benefits. Always better to report changes proactively!
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