Average Social Security Benefits Calculated by Age

Highlights:

• Social Security benefits are payments from the federal government intended to replace or supplement your income once you leave the workforce.
• The amount of Social Security you're eligible to receive each month depends on many complex factors, including when you were born, when you plan to claim your benefits and how long you've worked.
• The complicated nature of benefits calculations means it can be difficult to accurately estimate your exact Social Security payments. Still, it's possible to produce a rough estimate.

Planning for retirement should be a top financial priority. While post-retirement earnings from savings, investments and retirement account distributions are typically an important piece of the puzzle, supplementing this investment income with Social Security benefits is most likely a piece of the plan. How do Social Security benefits work and how much can you expect to receive?

What are Social Security benefits?

Social Security benefits are payments from the federal government — specifically the Social Security Administration (SSA) — intended to replace or supplement part of your income once you leave the workforce. These benefits are available to qualified retired adults and their spouses, people with certain disabilities, and some children.

Social Security benefits are funded by payroll taxes, which are either withheld from an employee's paycheck or paid by a self-employed worker to the government quarterly. You'll qualify for a certain amount of Social Security benefits based on how long you've worked and how much you've earned throughout your working life.

You can only access your full benefits once you reach your full retirement age (FRA). Partial Social Security benefits are available beginning at age 62. You can also postpone your payments until age 70. Delaying your Social Security benefits can pay off: each year you wait can result in a permanent 8% increase to your monthly payment.

Social Security retirement age chart

Your full retirement age is determined by your birth year. If you were born between 1945 and 1954, your FRA is 66. If you were born between 1955 and 1959, your FRA increases by two months every year. For instance, a birth year of 1955 means an FRA of 66 and 2 months, a birth year of 1956 means an FRA of 66 and 4 months, and a birth year of 1959 means an FRA of 66 and 10 months. If you were born in 1960 or later, your FRA is 67.

You can find a complete retirement age chart on the SSA's website.

How to estimate your Social Security benefits

The amount of Social Security you're eligible to receive each month depends on many complex factors, including:

• When you were born
• When you plan to claim your benefits
• How long you worked
• How much you earned
• Your marital status

The complicated nature of benefits calculations means it can be difficult to determine your exact Social Security payments. Still, it's possible to produce a rough estimate.

As an example, in 2022, average benefits for those with no delayed Social Security credits or early retirement deductions were:

• At age 67, $2,057 for men and $1,643 for women
• At age 70, $2,033 for men and $1,631 for women
• At age 75, $2,152 for men and $1,686 for women
• At age 80, $2,176 for men and $1,652 for women

The easiest, most accurate way to estimate your Social Security benefits is to create an account through the SSA's website and use their benefits calculator. This online tool helps you account for your earnings history and expected future earnings to estimate your benefits at all stages, allowing you to make an informed choice about when to apply for Social Security benefits. You can also visit a local Social Security office for additional information and assistance.

What COLA means and how it works

It's also important to know that Social Security benefits aren't static. They can change based on fluctuations in the economy through a mechanism called a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

Social Security benefits may be modified according to changes in the consumer price index (CPI). The CPI measures the average change in the prices of certain goods and services over time. When the CPI rises, the basic expenses typically go up alongside it. To account for increasing prices, the SSA raises Social Security benefits according to a formula. Past COLAs have ranged anywhere from 0% to a peak of 14.3%.

How will this affect your Social Security benefits? You can estimate any increases in your Social Security payments by multiplying your current benefit by the COLA. The resulting figure isn't exact, but it may still help you refine your long-term financial plans.

It can be challenging to predict exactly what your benefits will look like once you retire. However, by understanding how Social Security works and using the SSA's online benefits calculator, you can take important first steps toward a secure retirement.