You could argue that Social Security is the most important retirement-related program the U.S. offers. As of April, over 52 million people receive retired workers' Social Security benefits, with many relying on it for a nice chunk of their retirement income.
After decades of paying into the Social Security program, people often wonder just how much they can expect to receive in Social Security. Although monthly benefit amounts vary widely because of how Social Security calculates benefits, one constant thing is the maximum amount anyone can receive.
Ages 62 to 70 comprise the Social Security claiming range, so we'll take a look at the maximum benefit for three of those milestone years.
Image source: Getty Images.
How Social Security calculates monthly benefits
Before we discuss the maximum benefits, it's important to understand how Social Security calculates your monthly benefits.
Social Security calculates your monthly benefit using the 35 years when your earnings were the highest. First, it adjusts your earnings for inflation (called "indexing") to put them all into today's dollar value. Next, it divides the total number of months in those 35 years to get your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME). Once your AIME is set, a formula with fixed bend points will be applied to determine your primary insurance amount.
Since only income up to a certain amount (called the "wage base limit") is subject to Social Security payroll taxes, that's the most that is considered when calculating your monthly benefit.
To receive the maximum Social Security benefit at a given age, you must have earned at least the wage base limit for the 35 years used to calculate your monthly benefit. To give you an idea of how much that is, here are the past 10 wage base limits:
| Year | Wage Base Limit |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $176,100 |
| 2024 | $168,600 |
| 2023 | $160,200 |
| 2022 | $147,000 |
| 2021 | $142,800 |
| 2020 | $137,700 |
| 2019 | $132,900 |
| 2018 | $128,400 |
| 2017 | $127,200 |
| 2016 | $118,500 |
Source: Social Security Administration.
Maximum benefits at ages 62, 67, and 70
Now, let's talk about just how much Social Security recipients can receive at a given age.
I chose ages 62, 67, and 70 because they're key ages in Social Security. Age 62 is the earliest anyone can claim benefits, 67 is the full retirement age for most new claimers born in 1960 or later, and 70 is the latest you can delay benefits and receive an increased monthly amount.
Below are the maximum monthly benefits for recipients at those ages:
| Age | Maximum Monthly Benefit |
|---|---|
| 62 | $2,831 |
| 67 | $4,043 |
| 70 | $5,108 |
Source: Social Security Administration.
You can see just how different the maximum benefits are in those three ages, and it comes down to two reasons: early claiming reductions and delayed retirement credits.
Claiming benefits before your full retirement age reduces them by 5/9 of 1% each month, up to 36 months. Each additional month after that further reduces benefits by 5/12 of 1%. This means someone whose full retirement age is 67 will have their monthly benefit reduced by 30% if they claim at 62.
Delaying benefits past your full retirement age increases them by 2/3 of 1% each month, or 8% annually, until you turn 70.
How likely is it to receive the maximum Social Security benefit?
Very few people will qualify for the maximum Social Security benefit. According to the Social Security Administration, only around 6% of people earn over the wage base limit in a given year. That leaves a ton of people who will never qualify for the maximum benefit.
Take this year, for example, when the wage base limit is $176,100. The median U.S. salary is around $62,000, meaning half the population won't even come close to making half the wage base limit.
If 2025 is one of the 35 years used in your benefits calculations, earning even a dollar below the wage base limit would disqualify you from receiving the maximum benefit.
Either way, Social Security benefits should ideally be supplemental income in retirement instead of your main income source. Is it easier said than done? For sure. However, being diligent about having other income sources (retirement account, investments, etc.) can help make it a real possibility.
