"Social Security has an earnings test that applies if you claim benefits and you work before reaching your full retirement age (FRA). After you have hit your FRA, you can work and earn as much as you'd like. But before this milestone, you lose: $1 for every $2 earned above $24,480 in 2026 if you won't hit FRA all year; $1 for every $3 earned above $65,160 if you will hit FRA sometime during the year, but haven't yet."
"The Social Security Administration will end up withholding entire benefit checks in some cases. This means if you earn too much, you may get no benefits at all, even if you have claimed your benefits already. If you were earning thousands of dollars in monthly Social Security checks, all of that money could disappear."
"When your benefits are withheld, the money is not just gone forever. When you reach your FRA, the Social Security Administration recalculates benefits based on the benefits money that you didn't collect. Your new monthly benefit goes up a little bit for each month that you didn't receive a payment."
About four in 10 older households receive income from work, and more Americans plan to keep working past traditional retirement age. Working during retirement is often seen as beneficial because it can provide income, reduce withdrawals from retirement accounts, and increase spending power. A major downside is the Social Security earnings test, which reduces benefits when benefits are claimed and work occurs before full retirement age. Before FRA, benefits are withheld at different rates depending on whether full retirement age is reached during the year. In some cases, entire benefit checks can be withheld, even after benefits are claimed. After reaching FRA, withheld amounts are used to recalculate benefits, increasing monthly payments gradually over time.
Read at 24/7 Wall St.
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