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Exempt Amounts, 1975-1999

  Historical document  

Automatic Determinations

Indexed program amounts

Retirement Earnings Test

The retirement earnings test originally applied to all beneficiaries, regardless of age, and the test applied if a beneficiary had any covered earnings. Subsequent amendments to the Social Security Act changed the type of earnings subject to the test, added or changed age limits, and introduced or modified earnings exempt amounts. Some of the more significant of these amendments are listed in the following table.

Selected amendments affecting the retirement earnings test by year of enactment
YearEffect on retirement earnings test
1972 Required the exempt amount to be tied (or indexed) to increases in the national average wage index. Subsequent legislation delayed implementation until 1975.
1977 Increased the exempt amount for beneficiaries aged 65 through 71, relative to that for beneficiaries under age 65, effective with 1978 earnings
1981 Changed the upper age limit from 71 to 69 effective with 1983 earnings
1996 Increased the exempt amount for beneficiaries aged 65-69 for 1996-2002
2000 Eliminated the test after attainment of normal retirement age. The legislation, effective retroactively to January 1, 2000, requires that the test's higher exempt amount be applied to beneficiaries' earnings in the year they attain their normal retirement age (applies only to earnings in months prior to the month of reaching normal retirement age).

The table below provides annual exempt amounts under the retirement earnings test from 1975 through 1999.

Annual Exempt Amounts Under the Retirement Earnings Test
Year Under
age 65		 Age 65 - 69 1
1975 $2,520 $2,520
1976 2,760 2,760
1977 3,000 3,000
1978 3,240 4,000
1979 3,480 4,500
1980 3,720 5,000
1981 4,080 5,500
1982 4,440 6,000
1983 4,920 6,600
1984 5,160 6,960
1985 5,400 7,320
1986 5,760 7,800
1987 6,000 8,160
Year Under
age 65		 Age 65 - 69
1988 $6,120 $8,400
1989 6,480 8,880
1990 6,840 9,360
1991 7,080 9,720
1992 7,440 10,200
1993 7,680 10,560
1994 8,040 11,160
1995 8,160 11,280
1996 8,280 12,500
1997 8,640 13,500
1998 9,120 14,500
1999 9,600 15,500
1Age 65-71 for 1975-82.
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Last reviewed or modified Thursday Oct 16, 2008