Many people dream of retiring because they think it’s time to receive the Social Security benefits, to rest and be calm. However, for most old adults, the reality is totally different: they need to continue working even after starting receiving their Social Security benefits. The thing is that working while receiving these payments can reduce the monthly benefit if you haven’t reached the full retirement age, but rules about this are changing. So, let’s have a look at the changes.

Issue about working while receiving benefits

Many people start receiving Social Security retirement benefits before they reach their full retirement age. This may happen because they need the money or because they just want to enjoy what they have earned. However, not reaching the full retirement age can temporarily reduce your payments if you earn too much on your job.

It’s important to understand that these reductions don’t mean the money is lost forever. Once you have reached that full retirement age, the Social Security recalculates your benefit and raises it to make up for what was withheld. But until you reach that age, you might see smaller payments or even have your benefits paused for a short time if your earnings are too high.

Current rules

In 2025, the rules to work and receive the benefits before the full retirement age are the following:

If you will NOT reach your full retirement age during the year, you can earn up to a certain amount. If you earn more than this limit, the government takes $1 from your benefits for every $2 you earn above the limit. The current limit for this group is $23,400.
If you WILL reach your full retirement age at some point during the year, you have a higher earnings limit. If you earn more than $62,160, Social Security takes $1 for every $3 above that limit. These reductions only apply until the month you reach full retirement age. After that month, you can earn as much as you want without affecting your benefits.

These rules are important since many people believe they can earn any amount of money while receiving benefits, and that’s not always the case.

Changes on Social Security rules for 2026

From 2026, the rules will stay the same, but the amount limits increase. Even though it hasn’t been officially announced yet, it’s expected that:

The $23,400 limit rises to $24,360.
The $62,160 limit rises to $64,800.

This means you could earn more money working without having your Social Security benefits reduced before reaching the full retirement age.

Importance of understanding this

You’d better know these rules because they are going to make a great difference in your future. Many people don’t have enough savings to live only with retirement benefits, so they need to keep working. This is why it’s important to know exactly how much you can earn without affecting your payments.

I mean, people who don’t have this information could be surprised in a negative way when they find out their Social Security benefits are lower than what they expected.

To sum up

If you expect to receive both a paycheck and Social Security benefits, but you earn more than the limits allow, you might lose a large part of your benefits temporarily. This could affect your budget and your ability to plan for the months ahead.

So, now that you know the changes, you could better plan your retirement, avoid any surprises, and feel more confident about your financial future as you move into retirement. Share this information with your people so that they don’t make any mistakes!