I'd Think Twice Before Claiming Social Security Early if You're Still Employed. Here's Why.
Key Points
There's no rule against claiming Social Security early while you're still working.
However, doing this could put you at risk of losing money to the earnings test.
You may be better off waiting until you retire or reach your FRA to apply for benefits.
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After spending decades paying into Social Security, it's understandable that you'd want to sign up for checks as soon as you become eligible. But if you're still working and can't afford to quit your job yet, applying for benefits now may not work out quite how you'd hoped.
Early claimers sometimes run into the earnings test, which withholds money from your checks if you make too much at your job. If this could affect you, you may be better off waiting to sign up for Social Security.
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How the Social Security earnings test works
The Social Security earnings test applies to anyone who is still working and claiming Social Security while under their full retirement age (FRA). This is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. Older adults have slightly younger FRAs.
In 2026, the earnings test withholds $1 from your benefit checks for every $2 you earn over $24,480 if you'll be under your FRA for the whole year. If you'll reach your FRA this year, you only lose $1 for every $3 you earn over $65,160, and that's only if you earn that much before your birth month.
Depending on your income, that could be enough to cost you entire months of benefits, or to meaningfully reduce your checks. This could be a problem if your budget assumed you'd have your full Social Security checks and your paychecks to cover your expenses.
The good news is that losing money to the earnings test means you get a one-time benefit boost once you reach your FRA. The more you had withheld in years past, the larger this boost will be. However, you'll still wind up with smaller checks than you would have had if you'd waited until your FRA to apply in the first place.
Should you claim Social Security early while you're still working?
Claiming Social Security early might still be a good option if your income is low enough that you don't expect to run into the earnings test. But if you think you could lose some of your income to this rule, it might be worth delaying your application a little while.
Every month you wait to sign up increases your benefit a little until you turn 70. You don't have to wait this long to apply, though. Once you've passed your FRA, you can make as much as you want from your job without losing any money to the earnings test.
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