Will working full-time after reaching FRA affect my Social Security retirement benefits?

Once you've reached your Full Retirement Age, the earnings test no longer applies! You can work as much as you want and earn as much as you want without ANY reduction to your Social Security retirement benefits. This is one of the biggest advantages of reaching FRA. The earnings limit only applies to people who collect before reaching their Full Retirement Age. Your neighbor is confusing the rules that apply before FRA with those after. Take that full-time job with confidence! The only thing to consider is that working might cause more of your Social Security to be taxable depending on your combined income.

Congrat on the job offer! My uncle went back to work after he was 67 and kept getting his full ss check no problem. But watch out for the taxes like they said above

Let me clear up some confusion here. After Full Retirement Age, there is absolutely NO earnings limit that would reduce your Social Security benefits. You can earn $1 million and still get your full SS check. However, what the previous commenter might be confusing is TAXATION of benefits, which is completely different from benefit reduction. Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits may become taxable if your combined income (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of your Social Security benefits) exceeds certain thresholds. For individuals, that's $25,000-$34,000 for partial taxation and above $34,000 for maximum taxation. But taxation is not the same as having your benefits reduced. You'll still receive your full payment each month - you'll just potentially owe more in income taxes on your total income (including a portion of your SS benefits).

@angry_commenter - There must be something else going on with your brother's situation. Possibilities include: 1. There might be an overpayment being recouped from a previous year 2. He might have a garnishment for something like unpaid taxes or child support 3. There could be a Medicare premium adjustment based on higher income (IRMAA) 4. The SSA might have made an administrative error But I can guarantee the reduction is NOT from the earnings test if he's past his Full Retirement Age. The law is extremely clear on this. I'd recommend he request a detailed written explanation from SSA about why his benefit was reduced.

Has anyone tried calling SSA lately? Complete nightmare. I tried for 3 days straight to get someone on the phone to ask about this exact issue. Always disconnected after waiting 1-2 hours. Then went to local office and they said I need an appointment, but the earliest was 6 weeks out! So frustrating when you need answers now for job decisions.

So to summarize for the original poster: 1. After reaching Full Retirement Age (FRA), you can earn unlimited income without ANY reduction to your Social Security benefits. 2. Working will potentially increase the TAXATION of your benefits (up to 85% of benefits may become taxable), but this is completely different from having your benefits reduced. 3. Medicare premiums (IRMAA) may increase with higher income, which could appear as a "reduction" in your net Social Security deposit if Medicare is deducted from your SS payment. But the key point is: You can absolutely take that full-time job without worrying about earnings limits affecting your Social Security benefits. Those limits only apply before FRA.

My moms friend works at walmart greeter job and shes like 75 and gets both checks no problem!!!

One other benefit to consider: if you work after starting Social Security benefits and pay FICA taxes, the SSA will automatically recalculate your benefit amount annually. If your current earnings are higher than one of the 35 years used to calculate your initial benefit, your benefit amount could actually INCREASE. So working could potentially give you a permanent raise in your Social Security payment!