Social Security benefits replace, in part, earnings lost to a beneficiary or family
because of the beneficiary’s retirement, disability, or death. We use the ET to measure
the:
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•
extent of a beneficiary's retirement and determine the amount, if any, to be deducted
from monthly benefits of the wage earner and auxiliaries, and
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•
earnings of auxiliary and survivor beneficiaries to determine the amount of benefits
payable to them.
The law provides for a two-tier earnings test:
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1.
One test for beneficiaries under full retirement age (FRA), and
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2.
One test for beneficiaries who attain FRA during the year.
Earnings test does not apply to individuals at or above FRA.
For information on FRA, see RS 00615.003.