For most retirees, Social Security income is a necessity to make ends meet. Based on more than two decades of annual surveys conducted by national pollster Gallup, no fewer than 80% of then-current retirees in any given year rely on their Social Security check as either a "major" or "minor" source of income.
But the amount each retiree receives can differ drastically based on a number of factors. Here's an in-depth look at the items responsible for determining Social Security benefits, how much retired workers are taking home each month from ages 62 through 99 and over, and how future retirees can increase their eventual payout.
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These four factors are used to calculate your Social Security check
America's top retirement program comes with a number of potential surprises, including the possibility of being taxed at the federal level, as well as in 10 states, on a portion of your benefits. But when it comes to calculating your Social Security check, the four factors considered are straightforward:
- Earnings history
- Work history
- Full retirement age
- Claiming age
The initial two components, your earnings and work history, are linked together. The Social Security Administration (SSA) takes into account your 35 highest-earning, inflation-adjusted years when calculating your monthly benefit. For every year less than 35 worked, the SSA will average a $0 into your calculation, which will undoubtedly weigh on your eventual payout.
The third item of importance is your full retirement age, which is also known by the SSA as your "normal retirement age." Full retirement age represents the age you become eligible to receive 100% of your retired-worker benefit, and it's determined by your birth year. It's the only component of the four you can't control.
The fourth factor that determines how much you'll receive in monthly Social Security retirement benefits, and the one that has the potential to meaningfully increase or lower your lifetime payout, is your claiming age. Although benefits can begin as early as age 62 for retired workers, the program strongly incentivizes eligible recipients to wait. For every year a worker waits to claim their payout, beginning at age 62 and continuing through age 69, their monthly benefit can grow by as much as 8%.
Here's the average Social Security retirement benefit by age
Now that you have a better understanding of the variables that can affect how much you'll receive each month from America's top retirement program, let's take a closer look at the average Social Security retirement benefit by age.
Keep in mind that the data provided by the SSA's Office of the Actuary is based on the age of retired workers as of December 2023 and isn't necessarily indicative of the age they claimed benefits. For instance, a retired worker receiving benefits at age 67 could have claimed their payout anywhere from ages 62 through 67.
| Age | Average Retirement Benefit | Age | Average Retirement Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $1,298.26 | 81 | $1,943.00 |
| 63 | $1,338.65 | 82 | $1,942.41 |
| 64 | $1,459.73 | 83 | $1,920.50 |
| 65 | $1,563.06 | 84 | $1,882.72 |
| 66 | $1,739.92 | 85 | $1,864.04 |
| 67 | $1,883.50 | 86 | $1,833.70 |
| 68 | $1,948.37 | 87 | $1,779.58 |
| 69 | $1,945.18 | 88 | $1,755.44 |
| 70 | $2,037.54 | 89 | $1,752.01 |
| 71 | $2,050.67 | 90 | $1,757.84 |
| 72 | $2,023.00 | 91 | $1,781.97 |
| 73 | $1,990.43 | 92 | $1,769.78 |
| 74 | $2,000.45 | 93 | $1,763.11 |
| 75 | $2,012.14 | 94 | $1,762.84 |
| 76 | $1,982.36 | 95 | $1,769.85 |
| 77 | $1,996.49 | 96 | $1,773.24 |
| 78 | $1,949.44 | 97 | $1,753.36 |
| 79 | $1,942.45 | 98 | $1,761.40 |
| 80 | $1,940.24 | 99 and over | $1,715.05 |
Data source: Social Security Administration Office of the Actuary, as of December 2023. Table by author.
The first thing you're liable to notice about the variance in average retired-worker benefits by age is that claiming age does matter -- and I'll have more to say on this topic a bit later. Whereas the average retired worker, regardless of age, was bringing home $1,905.31 per month, as of December, age 62 recipients were receiving an average check of just $1,298.26. That's because claiming benefits at age 62 can, depending on your birth year, result in an up-to 30% permanent reduction to your monthly payout.
On the other side of the equation, waiting until age 70 to begin receiving your Social Security retired-worker benefit can boost your monthly payout by the maximum of 24% to 32%, depending on the year you're born. This is very likely why retired workers at age 70 were taking home $2,037.54 per month in December, or 57% more than beneficiaries at age 62.
The other variance that's noteworthy in the SSA's retired-worker benefits data set from December 2023 is that average payouts begin to taper off at age 83 and above. The reason for this is because women, on average, live longer than men.
Throughout history, women have been far likelier than men to be stay-at-home parents. A 2023 analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from Pew Research Center found that 26% of mothers and just 7% of fathers are stay-at-home parents. Because women have historically spent more time at home, and therefore less time in the labor force, it's adversely impacted what they've received in pay, relative to men, and reduced what they receive in benefits from Social Security.
Image source: Getty Images.
Patience is often the key to maximizing your Social Security benefit
As I pointed out earlier, claiming age is the single most-important factor that can support or hinder your financial well-being during retirement. It's also one of the most challenging decisions you'll make. Without knowing your "expiration" date, there's no way you can make a claiming decision ahead of time that you'll know is the correct move.
Despite these inherent uncertainties, researchers at online financial planning company United Income tackled this age-old dilemma in an attempt to decipher if one of more claiming ages really is best for retired workers.
Using data from the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study, researchers extrapolated the claims of 20,000 retired workers to determine if they'd made an optimal decision. By "optimal," United Income means a decision that resulted in the individual receiving the maximum possible lifetime income from Social Security.
The most telling finding is that actual and optimal claims were often inverses of one another. Although most retired workers chose to begin receiving their benefit prior to reaching full retirement age, extrapolated data shows that a majority of these claimants would have generated more lifetime income had they waited until after their full retirement age to take their payout.
More specifically, United Income notes that 57% of the 20,000 retired workers examined would have optimized their payout at age 70. Meanwhile, just a combined 8% would have taken home the highest lifetime payout with a claim at ages 62, 63, and 64.
In addition to being patient, knowing your options can be extremely helpful. For instance, select workers have a little-known do-over clause they can rely on if they regret taking their Social Security benefit early.
Form SSA-521, which is officially known as "Request for Withdrawal of Application," can, if approved by the SSA, undo your benefits claim and allow your payout to once again grow by as much as 8% per year through age 69. A worker who lands a well-paying job shortly after filing for their retirement benefits is a potentially perfect candidate for this Social Security mulligan.
However, there are some limitations to this do-over clause. You'll have to file for it within 12 months of receiving benefits, and you can only utilize this mulligan one time. Furthermore, you'll have to repay every cent in benefits you've received, including any benefits spouses or children may have received based on your earnings history.
