Claiming Social Security while earning income from a part-time job may appear to improve retirement finances, but the outcome might not be straightforward.Retirees who keep working can be caught off guard by a federal provision that activates the moment their job earnings cross a threshold the Social Security Administration (SSA) resets annually a rule the agency itself describes as widely misunderstood.Continuing to work after claiming Social Security can produce two very different outcomes, reducing benefits in the short term while potentially increasing them over time. Age, annual earnings, and a lifetime earnings formula ultimately determine whether continued employment raises or lowers monthly benefits. Both the penalty and the reward can apply simultaneously.How Social Security’s earnings test reduces working retirees’ monthly checksIn 2026, any retiree collecting benefits before full retirement age can earn up to $24,480 without triggering a benefit reduction,the SSA confirmed.For every $2 earned above that threshold, the agency withholds $1 from the monthly benefit, which can add up quickly for moderate earners.A retiree collecting the average monthly benefit of $2,079 as of March 2026 receives $24,948 over a full year, Motley Fool reported. Under the earnings test, $1 in benefits is withheld for every $2 earned above the $24,480 limit, meaning it would take $49,896 in excess earnings to wipe out that entire annual benefit. Add the $24,480 exempt amount back in, and the breakeven point lands at $74,376; any job income above that threshold, and the SSA would withhold every monthly check for the year.During the year you reach full retirement age, the withholding eases to $1 for every $3 earned above $65,160, the SSA reported.Full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later, and reaching that milestone removes the earnings test entirely.Withheld Social Security benefits return, but most retirees never learn thatThe money withheld under the earnings test is not gone for good, an aspect of the provision that SSA researchers Anya Olsen and Kathleen Romig identified as widely misunderstood by beneficiaries.Once the full retirement age is reached, the agency recalculates the monthly benefit upward to credit each month during which payments were previously reduced or withheld.More Social Security:Fidelity offers a lifeline to millions before Social Security shiftsSocial Security retirees could pocket a bigger 2027 raiseSocial Security’s funds will run out sooner than expectedThe adjustment produces a permanently higher monthly check going forward, though the agency does not send a one-time lump-sum refund for the lost months.”A lot of people don’t realize that you might get this reduced benefit right now, but you’ll get it back,” Mark Stancato, a certified financial planner, enrolled agent and founder of VIP Wealth Advisors in Decatur, Georgia, told CNBC. “It’s not a permanent penalty.”When clients see their checks reduced, many assume they should stop working or turn down job opportunities, Stancato indicated in the same interview.Olsen and Romig reached a similar conclusion in “Modeling Behavioral Responses to Eliminating the Retirement Earnings Test,” published in the Social Security Bulletin in 2013.The earnings test discourages work at older ages in part because beneficiaries do not understand that withheld benefits are credited back later, the researchers wrote.
Many retirees wrongly believe Social Security earnings test reductions are permanent, but withheld benefits increase future monthly payments after full retirement age.Daniel de la Hoz/Getty Images
How continued work can permanently boost Social Security benefitThe earnings test penalty is only one side of the ledger for retirees who continue working, and the other side tilts in their favor.Social Security calculates every retirement benefit using the 35 highest-paid years on a worker’s earnings record, with earlier wages indexed upward for inflation, the SSA explained.Anyone who logged fewer than 35 years in the workforce has zeros plugged into the formula, and each zero pulls the overall benefit calculation down.A paycheck earned during retirement that outpaces one of those zero or low-income years knocks it out of the formula and raises the benefit permanently.The SSA runs this recalculation every year for workers still contributing payroll taxes, and any year that ranks among the top 35 triggers an upward adjustment.That process applies even to retirees already receiving monthly checks, which means wages earned in a beneficiary’s 60s can still push the benefit higher going forward.What income counts toward the Social Security earnings testNot every dollar that flows into the bank account triggers the withholding provision. The agency counts only wages from a job and net profit from self-employment when measuring earnings against the $24,480 annual limit, the SSA confirmed.Luis Rosa, a certified financial planner at Build a Better Financial Future in Pasadena, California, told AARP that retirees often underestimate the types of earned income the SSA tracks when applying the earnings test.That includes earnings from W-2 wages, but also the net self-employment income if they’re driving an Uber or somethingPensions, annuities, investment returns, bank interest, rental income, and distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts or 401(k) plans are all excluded from the calculation. Bonuses, commissions, and consulting fees classified as wages do count as well.SSA tools and the tradeoffs planners flag before claimingThe SSA provides an online Retirement Earnings Test Calculator for anyone filing before full retirement age while still working, showing how income affects monthly payments.Ashton Lawrence, a certified financial planner in Greenville, South Carolina, told Kiplinger the filing decision extends beyond the earnings test: ‘It’s crucial to balance short-term financial needs with the long-term benefits of delayed claiming.’The SSA notes that beneficiaries can view their complete earnings record in a my Social Security account to identify zero- or low-income years that continued work could replace.Related: Vanguard warns of Social Security traps costing retirees