SS Income Limit

[marko]

This should be a short thread.

DW might be offered a relatively short term (3-6 months) consulting job.

I think the income limit is about $18K before SS starts to cut her SS payments and her earnings from that job would definitely push her over the limit. IIRC after the limit SS takes 50% of every dollar earned but that's not important.

She is also under the FRA.

What I'd like to know is 1) how soon after she starts earning does that cut come and 2) how soon after she stops earning does her regular SS payments resume? How is that monitored and implemented?

There is also the chance that the job would straddle two calendar years (2-3 months in 2021 and 2-3 months in 2022)

 

[MissMolly]

Why not get it from the horse's mouth:

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html

 

[cathy63]

She calls SSA and tells them how much she'll earn this year, then they immediately stop paying her SS until she has met or exceeded the withholding amount. Then they restart her normal payments and pay back any excess withholding.

Here's how to notify them: https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-01921

If you need to report a change in your earnings after you begin receiving benefits:

If you receive benefits and are under full retirement age and you think your earnings will be different than what you originally told us, let us know right away. You cannot report a change of earnings online. Please call us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), 8:00 am – 7:00 pm, Monday through Friday, or contact your local Social Security office.

Here's an example of how it works: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10069.pdf

Let’s say that you file for Social Security
benefits at age 62 in January 2021 and
your payment will be $600 per month
($7,200 for the year). During 2021, you
plan to work and earn $23,920 ($4,960
above the $18,960 limit). We would
withhold $2,480 of your Social Security
benefits ($1 for every $2 you earn over
the limit). To do this, we would withhold
all benefit payments from January 2021
through May 2021. Beginning in June
2021, you would receive your $600
benefit and this amount would be paid
to you each month for the remainder
of the year. In 2022, we would pay
you the additional $520 we withheld
in May 2021.

 

[marko]

Why not get it from the horse's mouth:

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html

Maybe DW is right and I'm just dense but I wasn't able to find the answer to my question from the horse's mouth.

She calls SSA and tells them how much she'll earn this year, then they immediately stop paying her SS until she has met or exceeded the withholding amount. Then they restart her normal payments and pay back any excess withholding.

Here's how to notify them: https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-01921


Here's an example of how it works: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10069.pdf

This answers my question. Thanks.

 

[Kerfuffle]

My mom did this last year, and I had her call SSA to tell them about her increased income and to request that payments stop, and they didn't want to deal with it. They told her to just wait until they catch it at year end and send her an overpayment notice. I had her call twice, and this is what she was told both times. Just now, 9 months after the end of the year in which she earned the extra income, SS sent a letter asking about it, so we assume the overpayment notice and withholding will be coming soon. I don't know if it's just the pandemic and understaffing, or what the deal is, but I was surprised they were uninterested in her honesty.