Will my $23,500 PT job income affect my Social Security benefits and Medicare costs at 66?

Good news! Since you're 66 and 7 months, you're past your Full Retirement Age (FRA), which for someone your age would be 66 and 4 months. Once you're past FRA, there is NO earnings limit - you can earn as much as you want without any reduction to your Social Security benefits. The earnings limit only applies to people who are collecting benefits before reaching their FRA.Regarding Medicare, that's a different story. Your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums might increase in 2027 (there's a 2-year lookback period) if your income exceeds certain thresholds. This is called Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA). For 2025, the first threshold for singles is $97,000 and for married couples filing jointly it's $194,000. If your total income (including this job) is below those thresholds, you won't see any increase in your premiums.

Thank you so much for clearing this up! It's a relief to know I won't lose any SS benefits. I didn't realize there was a 2-year lookback for Medicare premium adjustments. Our household income should definitely stay below the threshold even with this new job. This helps me feel confident about accepting the position!

I started working again at 67 and had NO problems with my benefits!! They didn't take anything away and my check stayed the same. But my medicare went up like $40 a month two years later which i wasn't expecting!!! Make sure u know all your income sources when figuring out the IRMA stuff

I'm confused about this whole FRA thing. I thought it was 65 for everyone? So you're saying once you hit your

FRA varies based on your birth year - it's not 65 for everyone. For people born between 1943-1954, FRA is 66. For those born 1955-1959, it gradually increases, and for people born 1960 or later, FRA is 67.And yes, once you reach YOUR specific FRA, there is no earnings limit that would reduce your retirement benefits. You can earn unlimited income.Regarding disability - that's completely different. SSDI has strict rules about substantial gainful activity (SGA). If you're receiving disability benefits, you can't earn above the SGA amount (which is $1,550/month in 2025 for non-blind individuals) without potentially losing benefits, regardless of age.

OH! That makes sense now. Thanks for clearing that up. I was getting SSDI and retirement confused. I'm only 54 so I have a ways to go for retirement but was trying to understand the system better.

While the previous responses are correct about no earnings limit after FRA, there's one more thing to consider: taxes on your Social Security benefits. If your combined income (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of Social Security benefits) exceeds $25,000 for individuals or $32,000 for married filing jointly, up to 85% of your benefits may become taxable.With $23,500 in work income plus your Social Security benefits, you'll likely exceed the threshold and may owe taxes on a portion of your SS benefits. This doesn't reduce your benefit amount, but it affects your overall tax situation.This is separate from the IRMAA issue for Medicare premiums that was mentioned earlier.

Oh, I hadn't thought about the tax implications. Thank you for pointing this out! I'll need to factor this into my financial planning. I might need to set aside some money for taxes or adjust my withholding at the new job. Is there a worksheet or calculator on the IRS website to estimate how much of my benefits might be taxable with this additional income?

Yes, you can use IRS Publication 915 (Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits) which has worksheets to calculate this. There's also an online calculator on the SSA website called the \

IMPORTANT POINT: You mentioned you took early retirement at 62, but then said you're now 66 and 7 months and haven't worked since 64. There's a discrepancy in the timeline there. If you actually started benefits at 64 (not 62), then yes, you're past FRA now and there's no earnings limit. But if you did start at 62 and there's just a typo in your post, that doesn't change the advice - you're still past FRA now.

Sorry for the confusion! You're right - there was a mistake in my post. I retired and claimed Social Security at 64 (not 62). Thank you for catching that!

Im in a similar situation but trying to call Social Security to verify has been IMPOSSIBLE. Spent 3 days trying to get through last week and kept getting disconnected after 2+ hour waits. So frustrating!!!I finally used a service called Claimyr.com that got me connected to an SSA agent in 20 minutes! They have a video demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puUThe agent confirmed exactly what others are saying here - no earnings limit after FRA! Such a relief to hear it directly from SSA. Might be worth confirming your specific situation with them too.

Thank you for the tip! I've also had trouble getting through to SSA on the phone. I'll check out that service if I need to speak with someone directly. I might do that just to be 100% certain about the Medicare premium issue and get the exact income thresholds for my situation.

my sister had to pay back $5,000 to social security because she didn't report her work income properly!! be very careful and document everything!!

That's unlikely to be an issue here since the original poster is past FRA. Your sister was probably under FRA and exceeded the earnings limit without reporting it. Once you're past FRA, there's no earnings limit to track or report. However, it's always good practice to keep Social Security informed about any major life changes, including returning to work.

Thank you everyone for the helpful information! To summarize what I've learned:1. Since I'm past my FRA (66 and 4 months for my birth year), there is NO earnings limit - I can work and earn as much as I want without reduction in my SS benefits2. Medicare premium increases (IRMAA) might happen in 2027 because of the 2-year lookback, but only if my total income exceeds $97,000 (single) or $194,000 (married filing jointly)3. I need to consider potential income tax on my Social Security benefits, as my combined income will likely exceed the thresholdThis community has been incredibly helpful! I feel much better about accepting the part-time position now.

Just wondering why u retired at 64 instead of waiting til full retirement age?? Doesn't that mean ur getting less money every month forever??

Yes, I'm receiving a reduced benefit because I claimed early. I had to retire to care for my husband when his Parkinson's suddenly worsened. At the time, we needed the income and didn't know how long I'd be out of work. In hindsight, we might have made a different choice, but we did what seemed best with the information we had at the time.

Just to add some perspective here - claiming at 64 instead of 66+4mo (OP's FRA) means approximately a 13-14% permanent reduction in benefits. While that's significant, sometimes life circumstances make early claiming necessary, as was the case here. The good news is that working now won't change the existing benefit amount, but might lead to slightly higher benefits after the annual recalculation if this year's earnings are higher than one of the 35 years used in the original calculation.