Social Security earnings limit calculator
Claiming before full retirement age and still working? See what is withheld.
Amounts are examples — use your own. In the year you reach full retirement age, enter only the earnings made before the month you reach it.
What are the earnings limits for 2026?
$24,480 a year if you are under full retirement age for the whole year, and $65,160 in the year you reach full retirement age (counting only earnings before the month you reach it), according to the Social Security Administration’s table of exempt amounts.
How much is withheld?
$1 of benefits for every $2 you earn over the lower limit, and $1 for every $3 you earn over the higher limit in the year you reach full retirement age.
Is the money lost?
No. Social Security states that withheld benefits are not lost: once you reach full retirement age, your monthly benefit is increased permanently to account for the months in which benefits were withheld.
Does the test apply after full retirement age?
No. Earnings in or after the month you reach full retirement age do not count, and the test never applies again. You can earn any amount and keep the full benefit.
What earnings count?
Wages from a job and net earnings from self-employment count. Pensions, annuities, investment income, capital gains, rental income and other Social Security benefits do not.
Is it still worth claiming at 62 if I keep working?
Often not, if you earn more than the limit: part of the benefit is withheld and you get no extra cash now, only a higher benefit later. If you earn under the limit, there is no effect, and claiming early is a separate question of how long you expect to live.
What does the first year of retirement change?
Social Security applies a special monthly rule in the first year you retire, so you can still receive a benefit for a month in which you do not work much even if your year’s earnings are over the limit. This calculator uses annual earnings only and does not model that rule; ask Social Security.
What the number means
If you claim retirement benefits before your full retirement age and keep working, Social Security checks your earnings against a yearly limit. Over the limit, it withholds part of your benefit. This is called the retirement earnings test. The calculator shows how much is withheld, how many monthly payments that corresponds to, and what your benefit becomes when it is recalculated at full retirement age.
How the withholding is figured
Take your earnings for the year and subtract the limit ($24,480 before the year you reach full retirement age; $65,160 in that year, for months before your birthday month). Divide the excess by 2 (or by 3 in the higher-limit year). That is the amount withheld, but never more than the benefits payable in the period. The number of months withheld is the withheld amount divided by your monthly benefit, rounded up. At full retirement age your benefit is recalculated: we estimate it by removing one month of early-claiming reduction for each month withheld (our derivation from the rule that the reduction counts only the months in which you were paid).
Worked example: born in 1964, $2,000 full benefit, claiming at 62
Full retirement age is 67, so claiming at 62 pays 70% of $2,000, or $1,400 a month. With $40,000 of wages the excess over $24,480 is $15,520, so half of it, $7,760, is withheld from $16,800 of yearly benefits. You receive $9,040, and 6 monthly payments are treated as withheld. At 67 the benefit is recalculated as if you had claimed 6 months later: about $1,450 a month instead of $1,400. With $24,000 of wages nothing is withheld ($0). With $100,000 of wages, the whole year of benefits ($16,800) is withheld. In the year you reach full retirement age: a person with a $2,400 full benefit who starts at 65 and earns $80,000 in the six months before the birthday month has an excess of $14,840 over $65,160, so $4,947 is withheld, which is 3 of 6 payable months.
Common mistakes
Counting income that is not earnings: dividends, interest, a pension or a withdrawal from an IRA do not count toward the limit, only wages and net self-employment earnings. Applying the limit before the year of full retirement age to the year itself: in the year you reach it, the higher limit applies and only months before the birthday month count. And thinking that withheld benefits are a tax or lost forever; they come back as a higher monthly amount at full retirement age, though if you die before breaking even you would not get all of it back. Note that the withholding is not the same as income tax on benefits, which is covered by our Social Security tax calculator.
Limits of this method
The calculator treats the year as a whole. Social Security actually withholds whole months of payments, and a special monthly test can apply in the first year of retirement. Family members who receive benefits on your record can also be affected by your earnings. The recalculation shown is an estimate, and the exact adjustment is made by Social Security. The limits change every year with average wages: the SSA table lists a different figure for each year, and 2026 is used here.
An estimate for planning only — not financial advice; Social Security decides your withholding. Sources, checked October 28, 2026: SSA Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test (annual limits, the $1-for-$2 and $1-for-$3 rules, recalculation at full retirement age); full retirement age from 20 CFR 404.409 and reductions from 20 CFR 404.410. Related: Social Security calculator, Social Security break-even calculator, Social Security tax calculator, spousal benefit calculator and retirement calculator. How we check our calculators.