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Working While Receiving Retirement or Survivor Benefits

This guide presents selected U.S. government consumer education from Social Security Administration. References to “we” or “us” in the source material refer to the issuing agency. Source dates and links appear below.

Work and receive Social Security at the same time

How earnings affect your benefits

You can continue to work and still get Social Security retirement benefits. Your earnings in and after the month you reach your full retirement age won’t affect your Social Security benefits. We will reduce your benefits, however, if your earnings exceed certain limits for the months before you reach your full retirement age. The full retirement age is 67 for people born in 1960 or later. You can visit www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/ agereduction.html to find your full retirement age.

  • If you’re younger than full retirement age, we deduct $1 in benefits for each $2 in earnings you have above the annual limit ($24,480 in 2026).
  • In the year you reach your full retirement age, we reduce your benefits $1 for every $3 you earn over a different annual limit ($65,160 in 2026) until the month you reach full retirement age. Then you get your full Social Security benefit payments, no matter how much you earn.

If you’re younger than full retirement age, and some of your benefits are withheld because your earnings are more than $24,480, there is some good news. About one year after you reach full retirement age, we recalculate and increase your benefits to take into account those months in which you received no benefit or reduced benefits.

Also, any wages you earn after applying to receive Social Security benefits may increase your overall average earnings and your benefit probably will increase.

For more information, read How Work Affects Your Benefits (Publication No. 05-10069).

A special monthly rule

Sometimes people who retire in mid-year already have earned more than the yearly earnings limit. That is why a special monthly rule applies to earnings for one year, usually the first year of retirement. Under this rule, you can get full Social Security benefits for any whole month you earn under a certain limit, regardless of your yearly earnings.

In 2026, we consider a person younger than full retirement age (age 67 for people born in 1960 and later) retired, if monthly earnings are $2,040 or less. For example, a person retires at age 62 on August 30, 2026. They will make $45,000 through August. They take a part-time job beginning in September, earning $500 a month. Although their earnings for the year substantially exceed the 2026 limit ($24,480), they will receive a Social Security payment for September through December. This is because their earnings in those months are less than $2,040, the special “first year of retirement” monthly limit for people younger than full retirement age. If a person earns more than $2,040 in any of those months (September through December), they won’t receive a benefit for that month.

At the start of 2027, only the yearly limits will apply to them. This is because they will be beyond their first year of retirement and have already used the special monthly rule during that year.

If you’re self-employed, we base the monthly limit on whether you perform substantial services in your business. In general, if you work more than 45 hours a month in self-employment, you won’t get benefits for that month.

If you worked for wages

Wages count toward the earnings limit when they’re earned, not when they’re paid. If you have income you earned in one year, but the payment was deferred to a following year, these earnings won’t count for the year you receive them. Some examples of deferred income include accumulated sick or vacation pay, bonuses, stock options, and other deferred compensation. If you receive wages in one year for work you did in previous years, you should contact us.

We have arrangements with the IRS to have employers report some types of deferred compensation on the Form W-2. These amounts are in the box labeled, “Nonqualified plans.” We’ll subtract the amount shown in the box from your total earnings to decide which earnings we count for that year.

If you’re self-employed

If you’re self-employed, income counts when you receive it — not when you earn it. The exception is if it’s paid in a year after you become entitled to Social Security and was earned before you became entitled to Social Security.

For example, if you started to get Social Security in June 2025 and you received some money in February 2026 for work you did before June 2025, it won’t count against your 2026 earnings limit. If the money you received in February 2026 was for work you did after June 2025, however, it will count against your 2026 earnings limit.

Report your earnings

Because your earnings may affect your Social Security benefits, we need to know how much you earn within the year. Usually, we get that information from:

  • The earnings your employer reports on your W-2
  • Your self-employment earnings reported on your income tax return

You need to report your earnings to us after the end of the year only if these situations apply:

  • You’re eligible for the special monthly rule (see our section “A special monthly rule”) and you earned less than the monthly limit (If so, let us know so we can pay you benefits for that month.)
  • Some or all of the earnings shown on your W-2 weren’t earned in the year reported
  • Your wages exceeded the limit, and you also had a net loss in self-employment
  • Your W-2 shows employer-reported wages that you’ll include on a self-employment tax return (if you are a minister, for example)
  • You filed a self-employment tax return but didn’t perform any services in your business, or you filed your tax return by fiscal year
  • You’re a farmer and you get federal agricultural program payments or you have income from carryover crops
  • We withheld some benefits, but you had no earnings for the year, or your earnings were less than you told us

If we have to adjust your benefit amount based on your report, we will tell you. Review of your information is important. About mid-year, we may send you a letter to ask you to estimate your current and next year’s earnings. Your estimates will help us avoid the payment to you for too much or too little in benefits. NOTE: If you get SSI payments in addition to your Social Security benefits, you must report all of your earnings.

Your earnings estimate and your benefits

We may have adjusted your benefits this year based on the earnings you told us you expected to receive this year.

If other family members get benefits on your record, your earnings may affect the total family benefits. But, if you get benefits as a family member, your earnings affect only your benefits.

Revise your earnings estimate

When you work, you should save your pay stubs. Within the year, if you see your earnings will be different from what you estimated, you should call us to revise the estimate. This will help us pay you the correct amount of benefits.

Sources and publication details

The federal agency source text is U.S. government work in the public domain. Fynoptic selected, adapted, and formatted it for this guide. No agency endorsement is implied. Follow the linked sources for current program details and the rules applicable to your circumstances.

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