Social Security is changing in several ways in 2026. Monthly benefits rise 2.8 percent starting in January, the payroll tax cap climbs to $184,500, earnings limits for people who work while collecting go up, and the amount of earnings needed to buy a work credit ticks higher. The repeal of two longstanding rules that had cut benefits for public-sector retirees, enacted in early 2025, continues to reshape payments into 2026 for anyone who hasn’t yet had their record recalculated.
The 2.8 Percent COLA
The cost-of-living adjustment for 2026 is 2.8 percent, applied to benefits paid starting in January. It’s based on the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers between the third quarter of 2024 and the third quarter of 2025.1Social Security Administration. Latest Cost-of-Living Adjustment
For the average retired worker, that’s about $56 more per month, raising the average payment from roughly $2,015 to $2,071.2Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet The increase is automatic. You don’t have to file anything.
Medicare Part B Takes a Bite
If your Part B premium comes out of your Social Security check, some of the raise disappears before it reaches you. The standard Part B premium for 2026 is $202.90 per month, up $17.90 from $185.00 in 2025. That alone absorbs about a third of the average COLA increase. Higher-income beneficiaries pay more based on their modified adjusted gross income, up to $689.90 per month.3Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles
WEP and GPO Repeal Still Playing Out
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, ended the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset. Those rules had reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for more than 2.8 million people who earned pensions from work not covered by Social Security, including many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and federal employees under the old Civil Service Retirement System. The repeal is retroactive to benefits payable after December 2023.4Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
SSA began adjusting monthly payments in February 2025, and most affected people saw their higher amounts starting in April 2025.5Congress.gov. Implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 If you receive a pension from non-covered work and you haven’t confirmed your Social Security benefit was recalculated, or if you never filed because WEP or GPO would have wiped out the payment, contact SSA. You may now be eligible for benefits and a retroactive lump sum.
Payroll Tax Cap Rises to $184,500
The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax rises to $184,500 in 2026, up from $176,100 in 2025.6Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base You and your employer each pay 6.2 percent on wages up to that cap; self-employed workers pay the full 12.4 percent. The 1.45 percent Medicare tax, plus the 0.9 percent Medicare surtax for high earners, applies to all wages with no ceiling.2Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
The maximum employee-side Social Security tax in 2026 works out to $11,439. Earnings above the cap don’t count toward your future benefit calculation either.6Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
Earnings Test if You Work While Collecting
If you claim Social Security before your full retirement age and keep working, some of your benefits can be temporarily withheld based on your earnings. The 2026 limits:
- Under full retirement age for the entire year: you can earn up to $24,480. Above that, SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn over the limit.7Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
- Reaching full retirement age during 2026: the limit is $65,160, with $1 withheld for every $3 above it. Only earnings in the months before you hit full retirement age count.7Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
- At and after full retirement age: no earnings limit, no reduction.8Social Security Administration. Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test
Money withheld under the earnings test isn’t lost. When you reach full retirement age, SSA recalculates your monthly benefit to credit the months benefits were withheld, permanently increasing your ongoing payment.9Social Security Administration. Program Explainer: Retirement Earnings Test
Maximum Benefit by Claiming Age
The maximum monthly benefit for someone retiring at full retirement age in 2026 is $4,152.10Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Payable Hitting that number requires earning at or above the taxable maximum for about 35 years, since the formula uses your highest 35 years of indexed earnings.
Full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.11Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later The maximum benefit varies dramatically by when you claim:
- Age 62: $2,969 per month. Claiming five years early reduces the benefit by 30 percent, permanently.10Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Payable
- Age 67: $4,152 per month.10Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Payable
- Age 70: $5,181 per month. Delayed retirement credits add 8 percent per year past full retirement age and stop accumulating at 70.12Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Delayed Retirement Credits
The spread between claiming at 62 and claiming at 70 is more than $2,200 a month. Timing is the biggest single lever most people have over their Social Security income.
Work Credits
You need 40 credits, roughly ten years of work, to qualify for retirement benefits. In 2026, one credit is earned for every $1,890 in covered earnings, with a maximum of four credits per year. Earning $7,560 or more during the year gets you all four.13Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility Credits also count toward disability and survivor benefit eligibility.14Social Security Administration. Retirement Benefits
How Much of Your Benefit Is Taxed
Up to 85 percent of Social Security benefits can be subject to federal income tax, depending on your total income. The thresholds that decide how much is taxable have not been indexed for inflation since they were set in the 1980s and 1990s, so each COLA pushes more retirees over the lines. Taxability is based on “combined income,” which is your adjusted gross income plus any nontaxable interest plus half your Social Security benefits.15Internal Revenue Service. Publication 915 (2025), Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits
Single filers:
- Below $25,000: benefits are not taxed.
- $25,000 to $34,000: up to 50 percent of benefits may be taxable.
- Above $34,000: up to 85 percent of benefits may be taxable.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 86 – Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement Benefits
Married filing jointly:
- Below $32,000: benefits are not taxed.
- $32,000 to $44,000: up to 50 percent of benefits may be taxable.
- Above $44,000: up to 85 percent of benefits may be taxable.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 86 – Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement Benefits
If your income sits close to one of these lines, the 2.8 percent COLA itself can push you into a higher taxable share. Married couples filing separately who lived together at any point during the year face a base amount of zero, meaning benefits are taxable from the first dollar.15Internal Revenue Service. Publication 915 (2025), Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits
Disability Earnings Limits for 2026
Earnings thresholds that determine whether a disability beneficiary is doing “substantial gainful activity” also move in 2026:
- Non-blind SGA limit: $1,690 per month. Earning above this generally means SSA considers you able to work and may end benefits.17Social Security Administration. Substantial Gainful Activity
- Blind SGA limit: $2,830 per month.18Social Security Administration. What’s New in 2026 – The Red Book
- Trial work period trigger: $1,210 per month. Any month you earn more than that counts as one of nine trial work months, during which full benefits continue while you test working.19Social Security Administration. Try Returning to Work Without Losing Disability
The nine trial work months don’t have to be consecutive. After they’re used, SSA looks at whether your earnings exceed the SGA limit to decide whether benefits continue.
SSI Payments
Supplemental Security Income, the needs-based program for people who are aged, blind, or disabled with very limited income and resources, gets the same 2.8 percent COLA. In 2026, the federal SSI payment is $994 per month for an individual and $1,491 for a couple.18Social Security Administration. What’s New in 2026 – The Red Book Some states add a supplement on top.
The resource limits are unchanged: $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple.2Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet Your home and one vehicle are excluded from the count. These asset caps have not been updated in decades.
Trust Fund Horizon
The 2025 Trustees Report projects that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund can pay full benefits through 2033, after which incoming payroll taxes would cover about 77 percent of scheduled benefits. The Disability Insurance trust fund is projected to remain solvent through at least 2099.20Social Security Administration. Trustees Report Summary
Considered together, the two funds can pay full benefits through 2034, and about 81 percent thereafter from ongoing revenue.20Social Security Administration. Trustees Report Summary That’s not a scheduled cut. It’s the gap Congress will need to close through some combination of tax and benefit changes before the depletion date arrives.