When does Social Security stop withholding benefits because you work?
The retirement earnings test ends beginning with the month you reach full retirement age. Before then, annual limits can temporarily reduce benefits.
Key points
2026 limit: $24,480; $1 withheld per $2 above
2026 limit: $65,160 before FRA month; $1 withheld per $3 above
No retirement earnings-test limit
The important date
The earnings test does not run through the end of the calendar year. It stops beginning with the month you reach full retirement age. Earnings from that month forward do not reduce retirement benefits under this rule.
What counts
For this test, SSA focuses on wages and net self-employment earnings. Pensions, investment income and many other forms of income do not count toward the retirement earnings test.
Why “withheld” matters
Benefits withheld under the earnings test are not simply erased. At full retirement age, SSA recalculates the benefit to give credit for months in which benefits were reduced or withheld because of excess earnings. That is different from saying the money is repaid immediately dollar-for-dollar.
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