Working while collecting Social Security at FRA - will $62K salary affect my benefits?

Good news! Once you reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA), there is NO earnings limit that affects your Social Security benefits. You can earn as much as you want without any reduction to your benefits. The earnings test only applies to people who collect before their FRA. Since you started collecting in April AFTER reaching your FRA in January, you're completely in the clear. Your $62K salary won't affect your benefits at all. The only thing to consider is that your benefits might be subject to income tax depending on your combined income, but that's different from having your benefits reduced.

ur good buddy! once u hit that magic FRA number they dont care how much u make. i went thru this last year myself, kept working full time + got my ss checks no problem. only thing u gotta watch is taxes, they might take a bigger bite outta ur check when all totaled up

I'm in almost the EXACT same boat!!! Hit my FRA last December, started benefits in February, and still working making around $58K. I was TERRIFIED about this too but then found out that the earnings limit COMPLETELY DISAPPEARS once you hit full retirement age. Isn't that amazing? The Social Security lady even told me I could make a million dollars and they wouldn't take a penny from my benefits. Now I'm not stressed at all about working this last year before I fully retire in February. Your April retirement date sounds perfect - that's when I originally planned to stop too!

The previous responses are correct. At Full Retirement Age (FRA), the earnings test no longer applies. However, I want to add an important point: if your earnings are substantially higher than in previous years, it could actually increase your benefit amount in the future. Social Security calculates your benefit based on your highest 35 years of earnings. If this $62K year replaces a lower-earning year in your top 35, your benefit could be recalculated and increased the following year. You don't need to do anything special for this to happen - SSA automatically reviews earnings each year and makes adjustments if warranted. So your continued work may actually boost your benefits slightly going forward!

While everyone is correct that there's no earnings limit after FRA, I just want to mention that calls to SSA about benefit calculations can be incredibly frustrating. I spent 3 weeks trying to reach someone when my benefit amount seemed off after working past FRA. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in under 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours or getting disconnected. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU It saved me so much frustration when I needed to confirm how my continued work would affect my benefit calculation. If you want to double-check anything about your specific situation, it's worth knowing about.

Wait I'm confused now... I thought SSI had different rules than regular Social Security??? My neighbor gets SSI and she said she can only make like $1,700 a month before they reduce her benefits. Is retirement Social Security different than SSI??? Sorry if this is a dumb question!!

One thing nobody mentioned - your Medicare premiums might go up in 2027 if your income is high enough in 2025. It's called IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount). For individuals, if your income goes over $103,000, you pay higher Medicare premiums. Just something to keep in mind for future planning since you mentioned making $62K this year.

my uncle got a letter from SS saying they paid him too much cuz of his job even tho he was at FRA and now they're taking $$$ back every month... im thinking maybe something else is going on with his situation but just saying maybe double check with SSA directly

Thank you all for the incredibly helpful responses! I feel so much better knowing I won't lose any benefits due to my earnings. I'll definitely keep the tax implications in mind though - I hadn't considered that 85% of my SS might be taxable with my income level. The news that my higher earnings might actually INCREASE my future benefits is a great bonus I wasn't expecting! I'm going to look into that Claimyr service too since I'd like to confirm everything directly with SSA before tax time. This community is amazing - I got better information here than from all the confusing articles I tried reading online!

Welcome to the community! I'm glad you found the information helpful here. One additional tip since you mentioned planning to fully retire next April - you might want to consider the timing of when you actually stop working in relation to your final paycheck and any unused vacation/sick time payout. While your earnings won't affect your Social Security benefits, those final payments could bump up your total income for tax purposes. Some folks find it beneficial to spread out their final compensation across tax years if possible. Your tax professional can help you figure out the best strategy for your specific situation. Best of luck with your retirement planning!

As a newcomer here, I just wanted to say how reassuring this thread has been to read! I'm in a similar situation - reached my FRA last month and have been nervous about continuing to work while collecting benefits. The clarity everyone has provided about there being NO earnings limit after FRA is exactly what I needed to hear. I've been losing sleep over this, honestly. It's also really helpful to learn about the potential tax implications and the possibility that continued earnings might actually boost future benefits. One question for the group - has anyone here actually experienced that benefit increase from working past FRA? I'm curious how long it typically takes for SSA to recalculate and apply any increases to your monthly payments. Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and experiences!

Hi everyone! As someone new to this community, I wanted to share my recent experience that might help others in similar situations. I actually went through this exact scenario last year - reached FRA in February and continued working while collecting benefits. I was earning about $58,000 and was terrified I'd have to pay money back, but everything everyone has said here is absolutely correct. Once you hit FRA, there are NO earnings limits that affect your Social Security benefits. I collected my full benefits all year without any reductions. The one thing I wish I had known earlier was about the tax implications. With my salary plus Social Security, about 85% of my benefits became taxable, which did increase my overall tax bill. I ended up owing a bit more at tax time than I expected, so I'd suggest talking to a tax professional to plan ahead. Also, I did see a small benefit increase the following year - about $12 more per month - because my 2023 earnings replaced a lower-earning year from the 1980s in my calculation. It's not huge, but every little bit helps! Welcome to the community, and don't stress about the earnings - you're in great shape!

Welcome to the community! As a newcomer here, I've been following this discussion with great interest since I'm approaching my own FRA in a few months and plan to keep working afterward. The information shared here has been incredibly valuable - especially the real experiences from people like Elliott who actually went through this situation. It's so reassuring to hear multiple confirmations that there truly are NO earnings limits once you reach FRA. I'm particularly grateful for the heads-up about tax implications. I hadn't considered that my Social Security benefits might become substantially taxable when combined with work income. That's definitely something I need to factor into my planning. One additional resource I'd like to mention for anyone still feeling uncertain: the SSA website has a retirement earnings test calculator that can help illustrate how earnings affect benefits at different ages. While it confirms what everyone here has said about FRA, it's sometimes helpful to see it in the official SSA format too. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread - you've provided more clarity than hours of online research could deliver!

As a newcomer to this community, I want to thank everyone for such a thorough and helpful discussion! I'm currently 64 and planning my retirement strategy, so this thread has been incredibly valuable in understanding what happens when you work past FRA. The consistent message from multiple people with real experience - that there are absolutely NO earnings limits once you reach FRA - is exactly what I needed to hear. It's amazing how much clearer this becomes when you hear from actual people who've lived through it rather than trying to decipher government websites. I'm particularly appreciative of the practical insights about tax implications and the potential for benefit increases from continued work. These are details you don't often see mentioned in the basic "what you need to know about Social Security" articles. One quick question for the group: for those who continued working past FRA, did you adjust your tax withholdings from your paychecks to account for the additional tax burden from having both work income and Social Security benefits? I'm trying to figure out if I should increase my withholding rate or just plan to make quarterly estimated payments. Thanks again to everyone who shared their experiences - this community is such a valuable resource!