The Surprising Way You Could Lose Your Entire Social Security Check

For some retirees, Social Security serves as extra money. But for many older Americans, those benefits are the foundation of their monthly budget.

Those benefits may also not be enough. And if you need to supplement your Social Security checks with earnings from a job, the good news is that you're allowed to do so. The bad news, though, is that depending on your age, you could put yourself at risk of losing some or all of your Social Security benefits temporarily.

The earnings test could whittle your Social Security check down to nothing

If you're collecting Social Security before having reached full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, you'll be subject to an earnings test. Exceeding the earnings-test limit, which changes annually, causes benefits to be withheld.

In 2026, the earnings-test limit is $24,480 if you won't reach full retirement age by the end of the year. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will withhold $1 in benefits per $2 of income you earn above $24,480. What this means, though, is that if you earn enough money, you could end up having enough Social Security withheld that your monthly check becomes $0.

Let's say your annual Social Security benefit is $20,000 and you earn $64,480, which is $40,000 above the limit. If you have $1 in Social Security withheld per $2 of earnings, you'll be left with $0.

Now, this doesn't mean that your Social Security benefits are gone forever. Once you reach full retirement age, the SSA is supposed to recalculate your monthly benefits and return that withheld money in the form of larger checks.

But getting no money out of your Social Security checks could cause a cash crunch in the near term. So it's important to understand how the earnings test works and what happens if you earn too much.

Make sure you know the rules

Social Security's earnings test shouldn't necessarily discourage you from working. Your wages may be below the limit, in which case they won't cause benefits to be withheld. Or, you may only lose a small chunk of your checks temporarily, which you should get back later.

The key, however, is to know what the earnings-test limits entail if you'll be collecting a paycheck while on Social Security prior to full retirement age. Once full retirement age arrives, you can earn any amount of money -- even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year -- and your Social Security checks should not look any different.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.