At 73 and Still Working Full Time, Can You Dodge Social Security Taxes?
A 73-year-old full-time worker wants to avoid a surprise tax bill on Social Security. Here's what you need to know.
Still pulling a paycheck at 73? Good for you — but the IRS isn't impressed by your work ethic. When you combine earned income with Social Security benefits, you can get hit with taxes on up to 85% of those benefits. That's a number worth paying attention to before tax season sneaks up on you.
The core issue is something called "combined income" — that's your adjusted gross income, plus nontaxable interest, plus half your Social Security benefits. Cross certain thresholds and the government starts taxing your monthly check. For a single filer, the pain starts at $25,000 in combined income. At $34,000, up to 85% of your benefits are taxable. If you're earning more than ever at 73, you're almost certainly in that upper bracket.
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So what can you actually do about it? The honest answer is: not a lot if you're still working full time and cashing Social Security checks simultaneously. But there are moves worth exploring — like shifting some income into Roth accounts (which don't count toward combined income), timing deductions strategically, or talking to a tax pro about qualified charitable distributions if you have an IRA and are charitably inclined.
The bigger tradeable takeaway here is that working in retirement isn't automatically a clean win. You need to model your total tax picture — Social Security, wages, retirement withdrawals — before assuming your gross paycheck equals your net gain. A surprise tax bill at 73 is a cash-flow problem nobody wants to solve in April.
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