About

About ssearningstest

A free, open calculator for one of the most confusing parts of claiming Social Security early: what happens to your benefit if you keep working.

If you take Social Security before your full retirement age (FRA) and still earn money from work, the earnings test temporarily withholds part of your benefit once your wages cross a yearly limit. People routinely overestimate the hit — or wrongly believe the money is gone for good. It isn’t: at FRA your monthly benefit is recalculated upward to credit the withheld months, so the test really delays benefits rather than taking them.

ssearningstest turns three inputs — whether you are under FRA all year, reaching FRA this year, or already past it; your monthly benefit; and your expected annual earnings from work — into the numbers that matter: the limit that applies, how much you are over it, the benefit withheld (capped at your annual benefit), how many monthly checks that equals, your net benefit, and your break-even earnings. It applies the published 2026 Social Security earnings-test rules with a disclosed method — no black box — and runs entirely in your browser. It is informational only, not financial, tax, or Social Security advice, and not affiliated with the Social Security Administration.

The 2026 limits are $24,480 if you’re under FRA the whole year (a $1-for-$2 withholding) and a higher $65,160 in the year you reach FRA (a gentler $1-for-$3 withholding, counting only earnings before the FRA month). After FRA there’s no limit at all. The test counts only earned income — wages and self-employment — not pensions, investments, or retirement-account withdrawals.

Informational only — not financial, tax, or Social Security advice, and not affiliated with the Social Security Administration. Your actual benefit, FRA, and withholding depend on your record and circumstances; confirm everything at SSA.gov or with Social Security. Open the calculator →