Retirement goals often include hanging up your work hat and living a life of leisure, but this isn’t to say you can’t continue to earn an income while still collecting Social Security. However, you should be aware that continuing to work after claiming Social Security could mean a quick recalculation of your benefits, resulting in a reduction of the amount that you receive, particularly if you have not yet reached full retirement age.
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If you are hesitant to reduce your benefit amount, either because you are younger than full retirement age or because you still need to work at least part-time in retirement to make ends meet, it may be time for an earnings test. Here’s what you should know about how many hours you can work and still collect Social Security.
Working Before Full Retirement Age
From the perspective of the Social Security Administration (SSA), the full retirement age for those born in 1960 or later is 67. If you continue to draw income before you reach full retirement age — for instance, if you claim benefits at age 62 — the SSA considers you a worker rather than a retiree. As such, some of your benefits may be held back.
Specifically, for every $2 you earn above a certain limit, the SSA will withhold $1 of your earnings. For 2025, the limit is $23,400. As to how many hours you can work and still collect monthly benefits, this will depend on your hourly wage.
For example, if you earn $20 per hour, you can work 1,170 hours per year before your Social Security benefits are reduced, assuming you haven’t yet reached full retirement age. That means you can work just over 29 weeks before hitting the earnings limit, as benefits are based on this ratio. If your salary is higher, that number obviously will be adjusted downward in accordance with receiving full benefits.
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Working the Year You Reach Full Retirement Age
Things change the year you reach full retirement age. At this point, the amount you can earn before any benefits get withheld is $62,160 for 2025. Further, benefits are reduced by just $1 for every $3 you earn above the earnings limit until the month you reach full retirement age.
Working After Full Retirement Age
For some people, working after full retirement age is not the definition of “retirement.” Yet, for others, working after age 67 can be a joy — or a requirement.
Regardless of the reasons you might have, the good news is that once you reach full retirement age, you’ll no longer suffer any penalties for working. You’ll be entitled to your full monthly Social Security benefit regardless of how many hours you work.
Even if you decide to work full-time or run a business, you’ll get to keep your earnings and all of your Social Security payments.
Does the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Impact Social Security?
Losing Social Security benefits because you might have to work is one thing, but the good news is that ultimately it’s not an either-or proposition, and typically you will be made whole. However, with the recent passing of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), some aspects of Social Security benefits have come into question. Here are a few key takeaways:
- As of now, if you lose Social Security benefits because you are working, they are never actually “lost.” Rather, they are simply suspended.
- The SSA will always make you whole for any suspended benefits. Once you reach full retirement age, the Social Security Administration will recalculate your monthly payout and increase your payments to make up for your deferred benefits.
- The OBBBA will accelerate the depletion of Social Security and Medicare trust funds, which could lead to insolvency in late 2032, as opposed to the previously estimated 2033.
- Should insolvency occur without further legislative action, Social Security retirement benefits could see an across-the-board cut of approximately 24%, with Medicare Hospital Insurance payments cut by 11%.
- The estimated benefit cuts would significantly impact retirees, potentially amounting to over $18,000 annually for an average dual-income couple retiring in 2033. While it offers some short-term tax relief for seniors, it may worsen Social Security’s long-term financial health.
- Though there is a temporary tax relief implication, the OBBBA includes a temporary increase in the standard deduction for seniors. This is projected as up to $6,000 for singles or $12,000 for joint filers. However, this is only available from 2025 through 2028 and could potentially reduce the taxable portion of Social Security income for many retirees, especially those with lower to middle incomes.
- However, this provision doesn’t eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits for all, particularly those with higher incomes.
Final Take To GO: What Is Considered Income?
Having an income stream makes life a little easier during retirement, but especially in times of economic uncertainty. Here is one final way you can still “work” and collect all of your Social Security at the time you expect it, rather than as deferred payments. Essentially, if all of your income is passive, you can earn as much as you’d like, and it won’t have any ramifications on your Social Security earnings.
Specifically, the SSA counts only wages or salary from a job, or the net profit from self-employment, as earnings. Investment income, pensions, veterans’ benefits, annuities, interest and government or military benefits are not counted.
John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Many Hours Can You Work and Still Collect Social Security Benefits?
