If you will reach full retirement age during that same year, it will be reduced every month until you reach full retirement age. Investment income does not count toward the annual earnings limit; the only income that counts is earned income —the income you earn by working either for someone or as a self-employed person. There are three different earnings limit rules that apply, depending on whether you earn the income before, during, or after the year your reach full retirement age. This is a serious reduction. This reduction applies to any year before you reach full retirement age, and it applies to income earned the entire year, even if you were not eligible for Social Security the entire year. So if you work a partial year, the income you earn before the month you start collecting Social Security benefits still counts toward the annual earnings limit. So if you work a partial year, the income you earn before the month you start collecting Social Security benefits does not count towa...