Will my wife's $1800 monthly earnings affect family benefits on my Social Security record?

Yes, the earnings test will apply to your wife's benefits if she earns above the annual limit, but not to your children's benefits. For 2025, the annual earnings limit for someone under Full Retirement Age (FRA) is around $22,320. At $1800/month, she'd earn $21,600 annually, so she's actually just under the limit! If she goes over even by a little bit, SSA will withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 she earns above that threshold. Your benefits and your children's benefits won't be affected by her work - only her spousal benefits would be reduced.

the ssa is SO CONFUSING about this!!!! when i started working while getting survivor benefits they NEVER told me about the limits and then hit me with a $4000 overpayment notice!!!! make SURE your wife reports her income changes to SSA immediately or they'll come after her later. and the terrible part is they'll take it from her future checks or even YOUR checks if they can't get it from her!!!

I want to add some clarity here. The earnings limit only applies to benefits received before reaching Full Retirement Age. Once your wife reaches her FRA (which would be 67 if she was born in 1976), she can earn unlimited amounts without any reduction in benefits. Also important: if some of her benefits are withheld due to earning over the limit, she'll receive a recalculation when she reaches FRA that will increase her monthly benefit amount to account for the months when benefits were withheld. So it's not completely lost money.

Quick question - does your wife qualify for benefits on her own record too? If she's working now and building her own credits, she might qualify for retirement benefits on her own record when she reaches 62. The SSA will pay the higher of the two benefit amounts (her own or the spousal benefit). Something to consider for long-term planning.

Just wanted to add my experience... my wife worked part time while collecting on my record and as long as she stayed under the yearly limit everything was fine. But be super careful about december/january paychecks! If a december check arrives in january it counts for the next years limit. Also watch for any bonuses or overtime that might push her over unexpectedly. My wife went over by like $340 one year and they reduced her benefit checks for THREE months! So frustrating.

u should also know they wont adjust the benefits right away if she goes over. they do it like way later after u file taxes and then they're like 'surprise! we're taking money!' happened to my mom and they took money when she wasnt expecting it. super annoying

I went through this exact situation with my family. Trying to reach Social Security to get a clear answer was impossible until I found Claimyr.com - it got me through to an agent in under 20 minutes after I'd been trying for weeks. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. The agent I spoke with explained that my wife could earn up to the annual limit with no penalty, and we could report her earnings through the SSA website to avoid surprises. Definitely worth knowing exactly how it will affect your specific situation.

To answer your follow-up question: If your wife goes over the annual limit, SSA doesn't stop all benefits - they reduce them proportionally. And yes, working now could increase her own future benefit. SSA calculates benefits based on your highest 35 years of earnings. If she has fewer than 35 years of work, these new earnings will fill in those blank years. If she already has 35 years, these new earnings will replace lower-earning years if they're higher, potentially increasing her future benefit.

She should proactively report the change to SSA when she starts working. You can do this by calling them or visiting a local office. While they will eventually find out through tax records, reporting in advance helps avoid overpayments that would need to be paid back. You can estimate her annual earnings and report that. If the estimate changes significantly during the year, you can update it. This way, any necessary adjustments to her benefits can be made gradually rather than facing a large unexpected overpayment notice later.

Has your wife checked her earnings record on the SSA website? It's good to verify that all her past work is properly credited before she adds new earnings. Sometimes there are errors, especially if she had name changes after marriage, etc. Make sure all her previous work is counting toward her future benefit.

I went through something similar when my husband started receiving early retirement benefits and I was considering part-time work. One thing that really helped us was using the SSA's online earnings test calculator to estimate the impact before I started working. You can find it on their website under "Retirement Estimator" tools. It lets you input different income scenarios to see exactly how it would affect benefits. Also, keep detailed records of all her paychecks and hours worked - if there's ever a discrepancy with SSA later, having your own documentation makes resolving it much easier. The annual limit resets each January, so if she starts mid-year, she has less time to reach that $22,320 threshold.