Those who qualify for Social Security benefits can choose to start collecting them at any point between the ages of 62 and 70, so it's fair to say that by 70, all eligible Americans are receiving their monthly payments. In this article, we'll take a look at how much money the average 70 year old gets each month from Social Security and how this compares with the maximum possible benefit.
The average Social Security Benefit at Age 70
I'll get right to the point. The average 70-year-old retired worker collecting a Social Security benefit receives $1,963.48 per month, or $23,562 per year, according to the latest Social Security Statistical Supplement, which was published in November 2023. This is significantly more than the overall average ($1,825.14) monthly benefit for a retired worker.
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There are a couple of things that are important to mention:
- First, this data is based on the state of Social Security at the end of 2022. The data for 2023 will be reported in the next statistical supplement, which can be expected later this year. Beneficiaries received an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) starting in January 2023 and another 3.2% in January 2024. While we don't have exact data for the time of this writing, applying these two adjustments shows that the average benefit for a 70-year-old retired worker today is likely to be about $2,203 per month.
- Second, this is the average benefit for people who are 70, not those who started collecting Social Security at the age of 70. In other words, this average includes people who decided to claim Social Security early, as well as those who decided to wait. The average person who waits until 70 to start taking benefits gets significantly more than this average.
The average spousal benefit at 70
The averages discussed in the previous section are for retired workers who are 70 and collect Social Security -- people who collect a Social Security benefit based on their own work record. But there are several other types of Social Security benefits that can be collected by 70 year olds, including spousal benefits.
Spousal benefits are designed to provide retirement income for older Americans who didn't work or had comparably low lifetime earnings relative to their spouse. Stay-at-home parents often fall into this category, just to name one example.
The average 70-year-old spousal benefits recipient gets $991.98 per month, as of the latest data. This makes sense. After all, spousal benefits are designed to provide up to half of the primary-earner's benefit.
What's the most you can get from Social Security at age 70?
As a final point, this is just the average Social Security benefit that a 70 year old receives, but many receive significantly more. In order to max out your Social Security retirement benefit, you'll need to:
- Work for at least 35 years in Social Security-covered employment.
- Earn more than the annual maximum taxable wage base in at least 35 years.
- Wait until age 70 to start collecting Social Security.
For 2024, the maximum possible Social Security benefit if all of the boxes are checked is $4,873 per month, or about $58,500 per year. It isn't possible (or practical) for most people to completely max out Social Security -- but the point is that there's quite a bit of room above the average benefit.
