Will my income zero out husband's Social Security benefits at 62 when filing jointly?

The couple at the seminar was mixing up two completely different Social Security rules. Your income won't reduce your husband's benefit amount to zero. Here's what's happening: 1. The earnings test - This applies to anyone collecting Social Security before Full Retirement Age (FRA) who is still working. In 2025, Social Security will withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above $23,000 (approximately - they adjust it yearly). This only applies to the beneficiary's OWN earnings - your earnings as a spouse don't count against his benefits. 2. Taxation of benefits - This is separate from the earnings test. When filing jointly, if your combined income (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of SS benefits) exceeds $32,000, up to 85% of his benefits might become taxable. This doesn't reduce the actual benefit amount - it just means he might owe taxes on a portion of it. So rest assured, your income won't reduce his actual monthly benefit. It might affect how much tax he pays on those benefits, but he'll still receive his $1,450/month (minus any withholding if HE earns over the limit).

The exact same thing happened to me and my wife! She kept working while I took SS at 62 last year. You DO still get your full benefit amount (well, the reduced amount for taking it early). But heads up - we got hit HARD at tax time! Had to pay a bunch cause we didn't have enough withheld. You might wanna have some taxes taken out of his SS checks from the start.

My wife's income does NOT affect my SS benefit amount AT ALL!!! I've been collecting for 3 years now (took it at 62 also). The ONLY thing that matters is if YOU (the person getting SS) earn over the limit. They don't care what your spouse makes. Period.

This is a common misconception! I'm a retired financial advisor who specialized in Social Security planning, and I can confirm what others have said: your income will NOT reduce your husband's Social Security benefit amount. However, since you mentioned filing jointly with an $87,000 income plus his part-time work and SS benefits, you should prepare for maximum taxation of his benefits. With joint income over $44,000, up to 85% of his Social Security will be subject to federal income tax. You have three options: 1. Accept the taxation and plan accordingly 2. Have voluntary tax withholding from his SS payments (Form W-4V) 3. Make quarterly estimated tax payments Another consideration: has your husband considered delaying benefits until his Full Retirement Age? Filing at 62 means a permanent 30% reduction in monthly benefits. If his life expectancy is average or above, waiting often provides more lifetime benefits.

I had the EXACT same issue! Except my hsuband is retiring in Januray 2025 and I'm still working. I was FREAKING OUT because someone at work told me the same thing - that his benefits would be zero because I make too much money. I spent HOURS trying to get through to SSA on the phone to get answers but kept getting disconnected!!! SO FRUSTRATING!!! I finally found this service called Claimyr that got me connected to a real SSA agent in less than 10 minutes! They have this video that shows how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. The agent confirmed that my income does NOT affect my husband's benefit AMOUNT, just potentially how it's taxed. Such a relief! Check out claimyr.com if you want to verify with SSA directly without wasting your whole day on hold.

Your so lucky ur husband can work part time! My husband turned 62 this year and started collecting but he got laid off and cant find ANY work now... nobody wants to hire seniors even part time these days... its age discrimination but try provin that! And were filing jointly and they ARE taking sum of his SS for taxes so be prepared for that. Not all of it but a good chunk.

I think everybody here is forgetting about the FAMILY MAXIMUM BENEFIT calculation! If too many people in one family are collecting SS benefits at once, there IS a cap! My sister-in-law had this happen!

One more thing - if your husbands staying under that $23k limit make sure it's EXACT! My buddy went over by just $780 last year and they took back two whole months of benefits! The SSA doesn't mess around with that earnings test.

Just wanted to add one more important detail that might help with your planning! Since your husband is taking benefits at 62, he'll also be subject to the earnings test until he reaches his Full Retirement Age (probably 67). But here's the good news - any benefits that get withheld due to the earnings test aren't lost forever. Once he reaches FRA, Social Security will recalculate his benefit amount to give him credit for those withheld months, which means a higher monthly payment for the rest of his life. Also, regarding the taxation piece everyone's mentioned - you might want to consider having your tax preparer run some projections now rather than waiting until next year. With your nursing income plus his part-time work and SS benefits, you'll definitely want to plan for the tax impact. Some couples find it helpful to increase their withholding from the working spouse's paycheck rather than having taxes taken from the SS benefits directly. Good luck with your mortgage paydown plan! Sounds like you've got a solid strategy despite the initial scare from that retirement seminar.

Just wanted to chime in as someone who went through this exact same situation two years ago! My husband filed at 62 while I was still working full-time making about $75K. Everyone here is absolutely right - your income will NOT reduce his actual Social Security benefit amount. That's only affected by HIS earnings if he goes over the annual limit. However, I'll share what we learned the hard way about the tax situation. With your $87K income plus his benefits and part-time work, you'll likely owe taxes on 85% of his Social Security benefits. We ended up owing about $2,400 extra at tax time our first year because we didn't plan for it properly. My advice: contact a tax professional NOW to run projections based on your expected 2025 income. We ended up increasing my payroll withholding by about $200/month to cover the extra tax liability, which worked out perfectly. That way we still got his full $1,450 monthly for our debt payoff plan without any nasty surprises come April. Also, make sure your husband keeps really good records of his part-time earnings throughout the year. The SSA is very strict about that earnings test, and going even a little over can trigger benefit withholding. Good luck with paying down that mortgage faster!

I'm so glad you asked this question because I was literally having the same worry! My husband is planning to file at 62 next year while I'm still working, and I've been stressed about whether my income would mess up his benefits. Reading through everyone's responses here has been incredibly helpful - it's such a relief to know that only HIS earnings count for the earnings test, not mine. The tax situation is definitely something I hadn't fully considered though. With everyone mentioning that up to 85% of his benefits could be taxable with our combined income, I think I need to start planning for that now. The idea of increasing withholding from my paycheck instead of his SS benefits makes a lot of sense - that way we can still count on his full benefit amount for our budget. Thank you to everyone who shared their real experiences with this! It's so much more helpful than trying to figure it out from the SSA website alone. I feel much more confident about our retirement planning now.