Home › Social Security › Earnings test
Direct answer: If you're under full retirement age all year, Social Security holds back $1 for every $2 you earn over $24,480 in 2026, or $25,560 in 2027. In the year you reach full retirement age, it's $1 for every $3 over $65,160, or $67,920, counting only earlier months. Then there's no limit.
By the numbers: 2027 earnings limits: $25,560 a year ($2,130 a month) if you're under full retirement age all year, and $67,920 ($5,660 a month) in the year you reach it, up from $24,480 and $65,160 in 2026. Source: SSA 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustment Fact Sheet
“The amount that your benefits are reduced, however, isn’t lost. Your benefit will increase at your full retirement age to account for benefits withheld due to earlier earnings.” — SSA Publication No. 05-10069, How Work Affects Your Benefits (2026)
Updated 2026-10-17
Under full retirement age all year: $24,480 in 2026 and $25,560 in 2027, with $1 withheld for every $2 over. In the year you reach full retirement age: $65,160 in 2026 and $67,920 in 2027, with $1 withheld for every $3 over, counting only months before you reach it (SSA 2027 fact sheet).
No. SSA counts only wages from a job and net earnings from self-employment. It doesn't count pensions, annuities, investment earnings, interest, capital gains, veterans benefits or other government or military retirement. Your own pension contributions that are included in gross wages do count.
Yes, over time. At full retirement age SSA recalculates your benefit to credit the months it held back. SSA's example: $910 a month from age 62, 12 months withheld, becomes $975 a month at 67; if every check was withheld, $1,300. Spouses and survivors paid because they care for a child don't get this increase.
It holds whole monthly checks from the start of the year until the withheld amount is covered, then pays the rest of the year. SSA's example: $600 a month and $800 to withhold means no January or February check, full checks from March, and the extra $400 is paid back the next year.
For one year, usually the first, SSA pays a full check for any whole month you're considered retired, no matter what you earned earlier that year. In 2027 that means earning $2,130 or less in the month ($5,660 in the year you reach full retirement age) and not working substantially in your own business.
Wages count when they're earned, not when they're paid, so a bonus or accumulated sick or vacation pay earned in one year but paid the next counts for the year you earned it. Self-employment income counts when you receive it (SSA Pub. 05-10069).
No. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age (67 if you were born in 1960 or later), your earnings don't reduce your benefits at all, no matter how much you earn.
As of Oct. 17, 2026
Work and collect: know your number. Under full retirement age all year, Social Security holds back $1 for every $2 you earn over $24,480 in 2026 or $25,560 in 2027. In the year you reach full retirement age it's $1 for every $3 over $65,160 (2026) or $67,920 (2027), counting only months before it. From that month on, earn as much as you like.
The math:
Sources: SSA 2027 fact sheet · SSA: benefits while working · SSA Pub. 05-10069
A best fit for the situation described, not financial advice or a buy/sell recommendation. Partner links never change a pick.
Uses SSA's 2026 and 2027 limits and its “$1 for every $2 (or $3)” rule. For your own retirement, spouse or survivor benefit. Nothing you type leaves your phone.
| Your situation | 2026 | 2027 | What SSA holds back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under full retirement age all year | $24,480 ($2,040/mo.) | $25,560 ($2,130/mo.) | $1 for every $2 over |
| The year you reach full retirement age (months before it only) | $65,160 ($5,430/mo.) | $67,920 ($5,660/mo.) | $1 for every $3 over |
| From the month you reach full retirement age | No limit | No limit | Nothing |
The monthly amounts are used only in the special first-year rule. Limits rise each year with the national average wage index. Sources: SSA 2027 fact sheet · SSA earnings test amounts · 20 CFR 404.430-435.
People who retire mid-year have often already earned more than the yearly limit. So for one year, usually the first year of retirement, SSA pays a full check for any whole month you're considered retired, no matter what you earned earlier.
Withheld benefits aren't gone. When you reach full retirement age, SSA recalculates your monthly benefit as if you hadn't claimed early in the months it held back.
| Born | Full retirement age |
|---|---|
| 1943-1954 | 66 |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months |
| 1960 or later | 67 |
Born on the 1st of a month? SSA figures it as if you were born in the month before; born Jan. 1, use the year before. Survivors use the retirement full retirement age for the earnings test. Sources: SSA: full retirement age · SSA: benefits while working.
| Year | Under full retirement age | Year you reach it |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $25,560 | $67,920 |
| 2026 | $24,480 | $65,160 |
| 2025 | $23,400 | $62,160 |
| 2024 | $22,320 | $59,520 |
| 2023 | $21,240 | $56,520 |
| 2022 | $19,560 | $51,960 |
| 2021 | $18,960 | $50,520 |
| 2020 | $18,240 | $48,600 |
| 2019 | $17,640 | $46,920 |
| 2018 | $17,040 | $45,360 |
| 2017 | $16,920 | $44,880 |
| 2016 | $15,720 | $41,880 |
| 2015 | $15,720 | $41,880 |
Source: SSA earnings test amounts.
Facts, not advice. These are SSA's rules and examples, with dates. SSA decides your actual withholding from the earnings you report and your records. Social Security disability (SSDI) and SSI have different work rules: see SSDI 2026 limits.
Under full retirement age all year: $24,480 in 2026 and $25,560 in 2027, with $1 withheld for every $2 over. In the year you reach full retirement age: $65,160 in 2026 and $67,920 in 2027, with $1 withheld for every $3 over, counting only months before you reach it (SSA 2027 fact sheet).
No. SSA counts only wages from a job and net earnings from self-employment. It doesn't count pensions, annuities, investment earnings, interest, capital gains, veterans benefits or other government or military retirement. Your own pension contributions that are included in gross wages do count.
Yes, over time. At full retirement age SSA recalculates your benefit to credit the months it held back. SSA's example: $910 a month from age 62, 12 months withheld, becomes $975 a month at 67; if every check was withheld, $1,300. Spouses and survivors paid because they care for a child don't get this increase.
It holds whole monthly checks from the start of the year until the withheld amount is covered, then pays the rest of the year. SSA's example: $600 a month and $800 to withhold means no January or February check, full checks from March, and the extra $400 is paid back the next year.
For one year, usually the first, SSA pays a full check for any whole month you're considered retired, no matter what you earned earlier that year. In 2027 that means earning $2,130 or less in the month ($5,660 in the year you reach full retirement age) and not working substantially in your own business.
Wages count when they're earned, not when they're paid, so a bonus or accumulated sick or vacation pay earned in one year but paid the next counts for the year you earned it. Self-employment income counts when you receive it (SSA Pub. 05-10069).
No. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age (67 if you were born in 1960 or later), your earnings don't reduce your benefits at all, no matter how much you earn.
Facts, not financial advice, and not an SSA benefit estimate. Rules and amounts change yearly; check your own record and estimates at ssa.gov/myaccount.