Can You Work and Receive Social Security?
Understand the rules for working while receiving Social Security benefits. Learn how earnings affect your payments and how to report them.
Social Security benefits are a foundational aspect of financial planning, designed to provide income replacement during retirement, disability, or in the event of a wage earner’s death. Many individuals approaching or in retirement wonder if they can continue working while also receiving these benefits. The rules depend largely on an individual’s age and income, with specific guidelines in place to ensure proper benefit distribution.
Working Before Full Retirement Age
Individuals receiving Social Security retirement benefits before reaching their Full Retirement Age (FRA) are subject to specific earnings limits. FRA is the age at which a person can claim 100% of their primary Social Security benefit. For those born in 1960 or later, FRA is 67.
If you are below your Full Retirement Age, the Social Security Administration (SSA) applies an annual earnings limit. For 2025, this limit is $23,400. If your earnings exceed this threshold, the SSA will reduce your benefits by $1 for every $2 earned above the limit.
A different earnings limit applies in the calendar year you reach your Full Retirement Age, but only for months before your birth month. For 2025, this higher limit is $62,160. In this period, the SSA will withhold $1 in benefits for every $3 earned above this limit. Benefits withheld due to these limits are not permanently lost; your monthly benefit will be recalculated at your Full Retirement Age to account for previously withheld payments, potentially leading to higher future monthly benefits.
A special “monthly earnings test” can apply in the first year you start receiving benefits. This rule allows the SSA to pay a full benefit for any month you are considered retired, provided your monthly earnings fall below a specific threshold. For 2025, if you are under FRA all year, you are considered retired in any month you earn $1,950 or less. If you reach FRA in 2025, the monthly limit for months before your FRA is $5,180.
Working At or After Full Retirement Age
Once an individual reaches their Full Retirement Age, earnings limits no longer affect Social Security benefits. There is no limit on how much you can earn from work, and your Social Security benefits will not be reduced.
Continuing to work past your Full Retirement Age can offer additional financial advantages. Your continued earnings may lead to a recalculation of your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME), potentially increasing your monthly payment if your recent earnings are higher than earlier years. Delaying the start of your Social Security benefits beyond your Full Retirement Age, up to age 70, can earn you delayed retirement credits, which permanently increase your monthly benefit amount.
Reporting Earnings to Social Security
Accurately reporting your earnings to the Social Security Administration (SSA) is important to avoid potential overpayments. The SSA needs current information to adjust your benefits if your earnings exceed applicable limits before your Full Retirement Age. Failure to report changes can lead to the SSA paying you more than you are entitled to receive.
You can report earnings through several methods:
Online via your “my Social Security” account using the “My Wage Report” tool.
By phone.
By mail.
In person at a local Social Security office.
When reporting, provide information on your estimated annual earnings or actual earnings from the previous year, and notify the SSA of any significant changes to your gross wages.
It is advisable to report earnings whenever they change significantly, or on a regular basis. Maintaining detailed records of your reports and communications with the SSA is also a good practice. If an overpayment occurs, the SSA will seek to recover the funds. Effective March 2025, new overpayment cases may result in the SSA withholding 100% of your monthly benefit until the debt is repaid. You may have options to request a lower repayment rate or to request a waiver if the overpayment was not your fault and repayment would cause financial hardship.