Social Security Earnings Limit Calculator: What’s Withheld?
If you collect Social Security before full retirement age and work, Social Security withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 you earn above $24,480 in 2026 and $25,560 in 2027. In the year you reach full retirement age, the limit is $65,160 in 2026 and $67,920 in 2027, with $1 withheld for every $3 above it, counting only earnings before that month. It holds back whole monthly checks from the start of the year, and every withheld month raises your benefit once you reach full retirement age.
Enter your earnings and benefit to see what’s withheld, which checks stop and what you get back.
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Social Security earnings limit calculator
How much the earnings test holds back, which checks stop, and what you get back at full retirement age.
How the withholding is figured
- Take your wages and net self-employment earnings for the year. Pensions, investment income, interest, annuities and capital gains don’t count.
- Subtract the limit for your situation and divide what’s left by 2, or by 3 in the year you reach full retirement age.
- Social Security stops whole checks, starting with January or your first month of benefits, until it has held back at least that amount.
- If the last stopped check was more than needed, the extra is paid back the next year.
| Example from Social Security, 2026 | Earnings | Withheld | Checks stopped | Paid back the next year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $600 a month, under full retirement age all year | $26,080 | $800 | January and February | $400 |
| $600 a month, reaching full retirement age in November | $68,520 through October | $1,120 | January and February | $80 |
Swipe sideways to see the full table →
These come from Social Security’s booklet How Work Affects Your Benefits, and the calculator gives the same results.
The first-year rule only helps
In your first year of benefits, Social Security pays a full check for any month you earn $2,040 or less in 2026 ($2,130 in 2027), whatever you earned earlier in the year. Someone who stops working at 62 on October 30, 2026, after earning $45,000, and then earns $500 a month part-time still gets the November and December checks.
The monthly figure isn’t a second limit that can cost you money. If your total for the year is under the yearly limit, nothing is withheld, even if some months are higher. Someone who starts benefits in January 2027 and earns $3,500 a month through June, $21,000 in all, keeps every check.
For self-employment, the monthly rule also looks at hours. More than 45 hours a month in your business generally means you aren’t retired that month, and fewer than 15 means you are.
What you get back at full retirement age
Withheld months aren’t lost. At full retirement age, Social Security refigures your early retirement reduction as if you had started later by the number of months withheld.
| Started at 62 with a $1,300 full benefit | Monthly from full retirement age |
|---|---|
| Nothing withheld | $910 |
| 12 months withheld | $975 |
| Every month withheld from 62 to 67 | $1,300 |
Swipe sideways to see the full table →
The $65 increase for 12 withheld months lasts for life and rises with cost-of-living increases. It takes about 14 years to make up the $10,920 of withheld checks, so withholding is a real cost if you don’t live into your early 80s. Spouses and survivors who get benefits because they care for a child under 16 or a disabled child don’t get this increase.
Family benefits on your record
If your spouse or children get benefits on your work record, the earnings test counts your earnings against the whole family’s checks, so their payments stop along with yours. Their own earnings only affect their own benefits. The calculator includes their monthly total when you enter it.
Survivors use the full retirement age for retirement benefits, not the survivor full retirement age, when the earnings test is applied.
When earnings count
Wages count in the year you earn them, so a bonus or accumulated sick or vacation pay for last year’s work doesn’t count this year. Self-employment income counts when you receive it, unless it was earned before you started benefits. An employee’s own contributions to a 401(k) or similar plan count if they’re part of gross wages.
Social Security withholds based on the estimate you give it. It settles the year from your W-2 or tax return, and if you earned more than you said, you’ll owe the difference as an overpayment. If your estimate changes, tell Social Security as soon as you know. Before full retirement age, the year’s earnings limit report is due by April 15 of the next year. A W-2 or tax return filed on time counts as that report if it shows the same earnings, but you’re still responsible for making sure the figure Social Security uses is right.