Taking a Part-Time Job Before Full Retirement Age? The Social Security Earnings Limit Can Take Back Part of Your Checks.

Résumé détaillé

Claim Social Security early and pick up a part-time gig, and the government may quietly pause your checks for months. Before you accept that first paycheck, learn what counts, what comes back, and what you should tell the SSA.

If you claim Social Security before full retirement age and take a part-time job, you can earn up to $25,560 in 2027 before Social Security starts holding back part of your benefits. That is the Social Security Administration's 2027 limit for anyone under full retirement age for the whole year. It was $24,480 in 2026. In the calendar year you reach full retirement age, the limit rises to $67,920, and only earnings from the months before you reach that age count. Starting the month you reach full retirement age, there is no earnings limit. If you were born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67.

Only income from work counts. If you work for an employer, the SSA counts your wages. If you're self-employed, it counts your net earnings from self-employment. Pensions, annuities, investment earnings, interest, capital gains and other government benefits are left out of the test according to SSA. Withdrawals from retirement accounts are also excluded according to Vanguard. The SSA does count retirement plan contributions you make out of your paycheck when they are included in your gross wages, so 401(k) deferrals from a part-time job still count toward the limit.

Timing matters too. Wages count when you earn them. Self-employment income counts when you receive it.

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If you are under full retirement age for the whole year, the SSA deducts $1 for every $2 you earn above the limit. In the year you reach full retirement age, it withholds $1 for every $3 above the higher limit. The SSA usually does this by holding back whole monthly payments at the start of the year.

Début de l'article, extrait de Yahoo Finance. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.