Social Security benefits only replace around 40% of pre-retirement income, according to the Social Security Administration. Since that's not nearly enough to live on, many people want to work while collecting benefits.
Before you work, you need to know the work rules. These rules are not the same for all retirees. Here's what you need to know about how these rules could affect your ability to earn a paycheck.
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Different Social Security work rules apply to different retirees
Social Security's work rules are very different for some retirees than others. Specifically:
- If you have reached your full retirement age, you can work as much as you want without losing any benefits.
- If you have not yet reached FRA, you're limited in the work you can do without risking forfeiting some benefits (temporarily) if you earn too much.
This means your age will affect how much you're allowed to work.
Reaching this age means you can work as much as you want in retirement
To understand which work rules apply to you, you must know what your full retirement age is for Social Security. According to the Social Security Administration, this is when your FRA is, and when you can work as much as you want while collecting Social Security benefits at the same time.
- 66 if your birth year was 1943-1954
- 66 and 2 months if your birth year was 1955
- 66 and 4 months if your birth year was 1956
- 66 and 6 months if your birth year was 1957
- 66 and 8 months if your birth year was 1958
- 66 and 10 months if your birth year was 1959
- 67 if your birth year was 1960
So, if you're at least 67 in 2026, you can work as much as you'd like without your Social Security checks being affected.
How are your Social Security checks impacted if you work before full retirement age?
If you work before full retirement age while collecting benefits, you start losing benefits once your income exceeds a certain level, which changes each year due to inflation. Here are the rules for working while collecting Social Security in 2026, according to the Social Security Administration:
- If you won't reach FRA all year and earn above $24,480, you lose $1 in benefits for every $2 earned.
- If you'll reach FRA sometime in 2026 and earn above $65,160, you lose $1 in benefits for every $3 earned.
Benefits are eventually credited back, but you can lose whole checks, which is a problem if you hoped for income from both sources.
What can you do about Social Security work rules?
You must know the Social Security work rules that apply to you if you decide to work while claiming benefits.
You should also aim to save and invest for retirement, and make smart investment choices, so those investments can supplement Social Security if you can't work as much as you'd like.
