Hi Larry. Have been unemployed all year until September 16th. Working pt and will be breaking the doc sec threshold by 200-300 per month. Will social security withhold any checks for the remainder of this year and how will it work next year? Thank you, Ed

Hi Ed,

Social Security won't need to withhold any of your current year benefits as long as you don't earn more than $17,640 in 2019. The only times that monthly earnings matter for earnings test purposes is if a person earns more than the calendar year limit and they're in their first year of drawing benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/rule.html).

In 2020, if you'll be under full retirement age (FRA) for the whole year you'll be able to earn up to $18,240 without losing any of your benefits. Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your benefits for each $2 that you earn in excess of that amount. If you turn FRA in 2020, you could earn up to $48,600 in the months prior to FRA without losing any of your benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/rtea.html). And, you can be paid all of your benefits starting with the month you reach FRA regardless of how much you earn.

Best, Jerry