You have worked long enough to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. You are at least 62 years old and have not done anything that would lead the IRS to seize your checks. So the idea that you can apply for benefits and get nothing probably sounds counterintuitive.
But that may be the reality for some early Social Security claimants who make a lot of money from their jobs. Here’s a closer look at how much you can earn before losing your entire average profit in 2026.
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How Proofing Income Could Cost You Social Security Benefits
The Social Security earnings test is the reason you can lose some of your benefits if you earn too much at a job. This only applies while you are below your full retirement age (FRA). That’s 67 for most people.
The rule says that if you are under your FRA for all of 2026, you will lose $1 of your checks for every $2 you earn above $24,480. If you reach your FRA this year, you’ll lose $1 for every $3 you earn above $65,160.
This loss is not permanent. You will qualify for an increase in benefits once you reach your FRA. The more you have withheld due to the income test, the more money you will receive later. But that’s not much comfort during the months when you lose some or all of your checks.
How much can you earn before you lose the average Social Security check
The average Social Security benefit is $2,081 per month as of April 2026. That gives you $24,972 in annual benefits. It may seem difficult to lose that much money on the income test, but it is easier than it seems.
If you will be under your FRA all year, the first $24,480 you earn will not affect your Social Security benefits. After that, your checks begin to dwindle rapidly. You would only need an annual salary of $74,424 or more to lose all average benefit checks in this year’s earnings test.
You will keep more benefits if you are expected to reach your FRA by the end of this year. The income required to lose full checks depends to some extent on the month in which you were born. Assuming you have a December birthday, you would need to earn more than $65,160 plus three times your total expected benefits over the 11 months you are under your FRA, or $133,833.
This should not be a problem for most low- and middle-income seniors. However, you can still lose some of your checks, even with lower annual income.