Can you work and collect Social Security retirement benefits? What retirees need to know
If you carry on working after you begin claiming Social Security retirement benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) may withhold some or all of your monthly payment.
However, this rule only applies up to a certain age, and deducted benefits are not lost forever.
How much is withheld if you earn while claiming retirement?
For individuals who claim Social Security before reaching what’s known as ‘full retirement age’ (FRA), the SSA applies one of two annual earnings limits, depending on how close the claimant is to hitting their FRA.
If the beneficiary is not due to reach their FRA before the end of the calendar year, the SSA sets an income cap of $24,480, as of 2026. “If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit,” the SSA says.
During the year in which a beneficiary reaches their FRA, that limit then increases to $65,160, as of 2026. Up to the month before the individual hits their FRA, the SSA deducts $1 in benefits for every $3 earned above this cap.
What’s the post-FRA earnings limit?
Starting with the month in which a beneficiary reaches their FRA, there is no longer any limit on what they can earn.
What’s more, the SSA credits the recipient for any pre-FRA benefits that were deducted for exceeding the income cap. “Benefits withheld while you continue to work are not lost,” the agency explains. “They are added to your monthly benefit once you reach FRA.”
When is a retiree’s full retirement age?
Although beneficiaries can begin claiming Social Security retirement checks when they turn 62, they do not reach their FRA until between 66 and 67, depending on the year they were born. (Take a look at the SSA’s FRA calculator.)
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What types of income count towards the earnings cap?
“If you work for someone else, only your wages count toward Social Security’s earnings limits,” the SSA says. “If you’re self-employed, we count only your net earnings from self-employment.”
The following types of income don’t count towards the limit:
- investment earnings
- other government benefits
- interest
- pensions
- annuities
- capital gains
To learn more about how earnings affect Social Security retirement payments, take a look at this information booklet published by the agency. The SSA website also includes a ‘retirement earnings test calculator’, which allows you to simulate the impact of countable income on benefits.
How much are Social Security retirement benefits?
As of September 2026, the average monthly benefit for a retired worker was $2,088.79, per the SSA.
If you wait until your FRA, the most you can claim per month in 2026 is $4,152. The maximum possible retirement benefit, which requires a recipient to wait until the age of 70 before filing their first claim, is $5,181 per month in 2026.
However, these amounts are due to get a 3.6% bump from January. This week, the SSA announced a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that is set to bring retirees an average monthly pay rise of around $75 in 2027.
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