What about Women & Social Security?

If you're a women over 50, and want to maximize earnings up to the Social Security wage base limit you should "use it as an opportunity to strengthen long-term Social Security benefit by replacing lower-earning years with higher-income years with what you are earning today", experts are saying. “For example, if a woman stayed home raising her children, higher earnings today can replace the years of ‘zero’ earnings in those stay-at-home years." A big part of Social Security is the wage base limit—the amount of income that can be taxed in a year.  The dollar amount is standard nationwide, but it does change every year, and 2026 is no exception. 

What is the Social Security wage base limit? 

The Social Security wage base limit is the total amount of income one can be taxed in a year. This number increases each year based on factors like inflation, wage growth and COLA, or, Cost of Living Adjustments. In 2025 the limit was $176,100. For 2026, it jumps to $184,500—an $8,400 increase. 

Summarizing: For an employee filing a W2, any earnings over $184,500 in 2026 will not be subject to the 6.2 percent Social Security tax. For self-employed workers, once they earn $184,500, they no longer have to pay the required 12.4 percent Social Security tax. Remember, there are several ways Main Street USA people can work on maximizing their earnings both next year and beyond. Always look at what the U.S. Social Security Department is saying about this at https://www.ssa.gov/ .

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