{
 "protocol": "verified-facts/0.3",
 "key": "us/social-security-benefits/earnings-test-lower",
 "label": "Retirement earnings test exempt amount in 2026, years before the year of reaching full retirement age",
 "value": 24480,
 "unit": "USD/year",
 "period": "2026",
 "effectiveFrom": "2026-01-01",
 "effectiveTo": null,
 "source": "https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/rtea.html",
 "quote": "2026 24,480 65,160. a Applies in years before the year of attaining NRA. We withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings in excess of the lower exempt amount.",
 "verifiedDate": "2026-10-31",
 "nextScheduledRefresh": "2026-11-01",
 "changeCadence": "annual",
 "nextExpectedChange": "2027-01-01",
 "status": "fresh",
 "ageDays": 6,
 "maxAgeDays": null,
 "previous": {
  "value": 23400,
  "period": "2025",
  "effectiveFrom": "2025-01-01",
  "source": "https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/rtea.html"
 },
 "scope": "Benefit rules read from ssa.gov in a browser (ssa.gov answers 403 to automated fetches); the taxation amounts are from IRS Publication 915 (2025), the latest edition. Keys ending -2027 hold SSA figures already published for 2027; unsuffixed keys hold the 2026 value.",
 "hash": "sha256:ecaf831f87b73147d3ed1ffd69ff6dcdfcb2bc15eb445bfc216bcab54263cc17",
 "signature": {
  "alg": "EdDSA",
  "kid": "db-2026-10",
  "jws": "eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsImtpZCI6ImRiLTIwMjYtMTAifQ..vg0MypnbJjduAtg_rgk8Vhu2N3lof_PGxZydAQt_ygGs6LzQsGXNRKUgYlKjR2USE8qFhW-5lXhWZMvRCf3yAQ",
  "keys": "https://databutler.dev/.well-known/jwks.json"
 },
 "publisher": {
  "name": "Data Butler",
  "url": "https://databutler.dev/"
 },
 "cite": {
  "url": "https://databutler.dev/facts/us/social-security-benefits/earnings-test-lower",
  "text": "databutler.dev, verified 2026-10-31 against https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/rtea.html"
 }
}