Social Security changes: What happens if you work while receiving retirement benefits?

People can work while receiving Social Security retirement benefits. However, the Social Security Administration (SSA) applies an earnings test to beneficiaries who have not yet reached full retirement age, which can reduce their payments depending on how much they earn.

The rules change once a beneficiary reaches full retirement age. At that point, earnings from work no longer reduce Social Security retirement benefits, regardless of how much the person earns.

How working can affect Social Security benefits

For beneficiaries who are under full retirement age for all of 2026, the annual earnings limit is $24,480. SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above that amount.

In the year a person reaches full retirement age, the 2026 earnings limit is $65,160. SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $3 earned above that limit, counting only earnings made before the month the person reaches full retirement age.

What happens after reaching full retirement age

Starting with the month a beneficiary reaches full retirement age, there is no earnings limit. A person can continue working and receive their full Social Security retirement benefit regardless of how much they earn.

SSA also recalculates benefits when additional earnings increase a person’s benefit. The agency reviews beneficiaries’ earnings records each year, and if new earnings are among their highest years, the monthly benefit may increase.

Which income counts toward the earnings limit

SSA counts wages from a job and net earnings from self-employment when applying the earnings test. Bonuses, commissions, and vacation pay also count.

Other income, including pensions, annuities, investment income, interest, veterans’ benefits and other government or military retirement benefits, does not count toward the earnings limit.