topic ss in Retirement tax questions

ss

laekholm — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:52:45 GMT

is it true that after 66 or fra your social security amount is not effected. say i want to take out 50k from 401k i will need to pay taxes but my social security is now longer effected.

thanks

Re: ss

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 16:24:53 GMT

TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY

Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable on your federal tax return. There is no age limit for having to pay taxes on Social Security benefits if you have other sources of income along with the SS benefits. When you have other income such as earnings from continuing to work, investment income, pensions, etc. up to 85% of your SS can be taxable.

What confuses people about this is that before you reach full retirement age, if you continue working while drawing SS, your benefits can be reduced if you earn over a certain limit. (For 2019 it was $17,640— for 2020 it was $18,240; for 2021 it was $18,960. For 2022 it was $19,560 — for 2023 $21,240)

After full retirement age, no matter how much you continue to earn, your benefits are not reduced by your earnings; your employer will still have to withhold for Social Security and Medicare. If you work as an independent contractor then you will pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.

To see how much of your Social Security was taxable, look at lines 6a and 6b of your 2022 Form 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899144-is-my-social-security-income-taxable

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/are-my-social-security-or-railroad-retirement-tier-i-benefits-taxable

You need to file a federal return if half your Social Security plus your other income is $25,000 when filing single or head of household, or $32,000 when filing married filing jointly, $0 if you are filing married filing separately.

Some additional information: There are 11 states that tax Social Security—Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont These states offer varying degrees of income exemptions, but two mirror the federal tax schedule: MN and VT.

Re: ss

ElizabethW2 — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 16:27:41 GMT

Good morning!

There are 2 issues when it comes to social security benefits. If you have reached full retirement age (FRA) you can earn any amount and not have your benefits reduced. Taking a distribution from retirement funds does not affect the amount of your benefits, ever.

Taxation is another story. The total of all your other income determines whether or not your social security is taxable. Below is a link that will give you the thresholds for each filing status.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/irs-tax-return/a-guide-to-social-security-tax/L5QxGNcJL

Taking a distribution of that size from your 401k, regardless of your filing status, is going to cause some (up to 85%) of your social security benefits to be subject to tax on your return.

Elizabeth W

EA for 29 years