What percentage of Social Security benefits can be taxed according to the speaker?

Craig Wear, CFP®Craig Wear, CFP® | Expert in Roth Conversions & Tax-Efficient Retirement Strategies for IRA Millionaires

Social Security and Tax Savings, What you need to know!

2 Mar 2025 · 1 min

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0:33

Short excerpt from a YouTube video by Craig Wear, CFP® explaining how keeping taxable income lower can avoid taxation of Social Security benefits (potentially avoiding tax on up to 85% of benefits). He notes that high-income individuals may always pay tax on up to 85% of benefits, and references proposed (but not enacted) Trump administration changes that would eliminate tax on Social Security.

Questions this video answers

Up to 85%.

Chapters

Their lower Social Security has also accumulated some tax savings for them. So keeping taxable income lower avoids taxation of up to 85% of your benefits. Now, this won't apply to everybody because some of you have got high enough income that you're always going to pay tax on up to 85% of your Social Security. And if the tax laws change that Trump wants to get changed in his administration, we won't have any tax on any Social Security. So that'll be a savings as well. But that hasn't happened yet.