Social Security Earnings Test Calculator 2026

Retirement earnings test

The 2026 Social Security earnings limits

The earnings test applies only while you are younger than full retirement age. For 2026, SSA uses two annual limits:

• Under full retirement age all year: SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above $24,480.
• In the year you reach full retirement age: SSA withholds $1 for every $3 you earn above $65,160, and it counts only earnings from the months before the month you reach full retirement age.

Earnings in or after the month you reach full retirement age do not count, so from that month on you can earn any amount without losing benefits. The calculator applies whichever rule fits the month you pick.

Two SSA examples show the math. Someone under full retirement age all year who is entitled to $800 a month ($9,600 for the year) and earns $33,400 is $8,920 over the limit, so benefits are reduced by $4,460 and the person receives $5,140 for the year. Someone who reaches full retirement age in August 2026, with the same $800 benefit, who earns $66,000 from January through July is $840 over the $65,160 limit. That costs $280, so the person keeps $5,320 of the $5,600 due for those seven months and then receives the full $800 from August.

Source: SSA Publication 05-10069, How Work Affects Your Benefits (2026), for people younger than full retirement age during the whole year.

How SSA holds back the money

Rather than trimming each check, SSA's examples show it holding back whole monthly payments at the start of the year until it has withheld at least the amount due, then paying the full benefit for the rest of the year. In the SSA publication example, a person who starts benefits at 62 in January 2026 at $600 a month and earns $26,080 is $1,600 over the limit, so SSA needs to withhold $800. It holds back the January and February checks ($1,200), pays $600 a month from March, and in 2027 pays back the extra $400 it withheld. The calculator shows the same three numbers: the amount withheld, the checks held back and the extra repaid the next year.

SSA sets your withholding from the earnings estimate you give it. If you expect your 2026 earnings to be different from what you told SSA, it asks you to report the change right away so the withholding can be corrected.

What counts as earnings

If you work for someone else, only your wages count. If you are self-employed, SSA counts only your net earnings from self-employment. It does not count other government benefits, investment earnings, interest, pensions, annuities or capital gains. It does count an employee's contribution to a pension or retirement plan when that contribution is included in the employee's gross wages.

Timing matters. Wages count when you earn them, not when they are paid, so accumulated sick or vacation pay and bonuses earned in one year but paid the next are not counted in the year you receive them. Self-employment income generally counts when you receive it. Your wages also stay subject to payroll tax while you collect: the IRS says employee wages are generally subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes regardless of age or whether the employee is receiving Social Security benefits. Our Social Security tax on your paycheck guide shows that deduction.

The special rule for your first year

People who retire partway through a year have sometimes earned more than the annual limit already. For one year, usually the first year of retirement, SSA also applies a monthly test: you can get a full check for any whole month you are retired, regardless of your earnings for the year. In 2026, a person younger than full retirement age for the entire year counts as retired in a month when earnings are $2,040 or less. In SSA's example, someone who retires at 62 on October 30, 2026 after earning $45,000, then takes a part-time job paying $500 a month, still receives checks for November and December. Tick the first-year box in the calculator and enter your monthly earnings to apply this rule.

For self-employed people SSA also looks at the time you spend working in the business. In general, more than 45 hours a month means you are not retired, less than 15 hours means you are, and between 15 and 45 hours you are not treated as retired if the work needs a lot of skill or you manage a sizable business.

Withheld benefits are not lost

When benefits are withheld because of work, SSA increases your monthly benefit starting at full retirement age to account for the months it withheld. In the SSA example, a person who claims at 62 in 2026 at $910 a month and has 12 months withheld would be paid $975 a month from full retirement age at 67, stated in current dollars. If every check between 62 and 67 were withheld, the benefit at 67 would be $1,300 a month. Our Social Security break-even calculator helps compare claiming ages, and the Social Security benefits tax calculator estimates income tax on the benefits you do receive.

Family members are affected too. If your spouse or children get benefits on your work record, your earnings after you start retirement benefits can reduce their benefits as well. Their own earnings affect only their own benefits.

Find your full retirement age

Your full retirement age depends on your birth year. If you were born on January 1, use the previous year. If you were born on the 1st of any month, SSA figures your full retirement age as if your birthday were in the previous month. The birth date finder in the calculator applies both rules and sets the correct option for you.

Source: SSA retirement age chart, Full retirement and age 62 benefit by year of birth.

If you receive survivors benefits, SSA uses your full retirement age for retirement benefits when it applies the earnings test. Different rules apply to Social Security disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income, which require you to report all earnings, so this calculator does not cover them.