How much can I earn in wages before social security begins to recover
$1 for every $2 earned and at what ages does it change?

Hello thomasale:

Thanks for the interesting question. 

The answer to your question revolves around what is the Full
Retirement Age (FRA) for you, which depends on the year you were born.
To find your FRA, go to the table at:

Find Your Retirement Age
URL: http://www.ssa.gov/retirechartred.htm

If you are collecting Social Security payments *before* you reach your
FRA, the government will deduct $1 of benefits from every $2 you earn
over the stated annual limit. The annual limits are:

For 2005...$12,000
For 2006...$12,480 

During the year you reach your FRA, things change. At that point, the
government deducts $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn (in the months
before you actually reach your FRA) over a new set of annual limits.
The new limits are:

For 2005...$31,800 
For 2006...$33,240

After you actually reach your FRA, you can earn as much as you want
without any deductions to your benefits.

This information, and a handy calculator to help you figure it out,
can be found at:

How much can I earn and still receive Social Security benefits?
URL: http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=236&p_created=957878244&p_sid=uNoKI71i&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NTUmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PTEuOSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

Search Strategy (on Google):
* "social security" deductions

I hope this helps. 

websearcher

thanks for the great site...I was looking for about 2 hrs yesterday
morning and stumbled on the site. I bookmarked and will be back
soon...like having your own research group!