The maximum Social Security benefit in 2025 is $5,108 per month or $61,296 for the year. Most people do not get that much, though. To get the maximum you would have had to postpone benefits until age 70. You also would need to have earned the maximum taxable amount ($176,100 in 2024) for at least 35 years.
Your maximum benefit if you file at age 62 – the youngest possible age – is $2,710 per month. Your maximum benefit if you file at full retirement age – between 66 and 67 – is $3,822 per month. Your maximum benefit if you file at age 70 – the age when extra benefits stop accruing – is $4,873 per month.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
If you don't need the money it's better to wait since the benefit amount increases even beyond your full retirement age. For example, if your FRA is 67, your benefit will continue to increase by 8% per year beyond FRA until age 70. At that point it won't increase anymore and you might as well take it.
Assuming your full retirement age is 67, if you file for those retirement benefits at 62, you'll receive around 70% of your full retirement age benefit amount. If you file for disability and are awarded those benefits, the amount that you would receive would be 100% of your full retirement age benefit, even at 62.
If your spouse dies, do you get both Social Security benefits? You cannot claim your deceased spouse's benefits in addition to your own retirement benefits. Social Security only will pay one—survivor or retirement. If you qualify for both survivor and retirement benefits, you will receive whichever amount is higher.
Exactly how much in earnings do you need to get a $3,000 benefit? Well, you just need to have averaged about 70% of the taxable maximum. In our example case, that means that your earnings in 1983 were about $22,000 and increased every year to where they ended at about $100,000 at age 62.
Each survivor benefit can be up to 100% of your benefit. The amount may be reduced if the women start benefits before their own full retirement age, but they don't have to share — the amount isn't reduced because you've had more than one spouse.
To qualify to get $144 added back to your Social Security check, you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan that offers a Part B premium reduction or giveback benefit.
If you've worked and paid taxes into the Social Security system for at least 10 years and have earned a minimum of 40 work credits, you can collect your own benefits as early as age 62.
The amount a person receives in Social Security benefits is not directly affected by their current income or wealth. Therefore, even if someone is a millionaire or billionaire, they can still receive Social Security benefits if they have a qualifying work history.
Generally, the maximum Federal SSI benefit amount changes yearly. SSI benefits increased in 2024 because there was an increase in the Consumer Price Index from the third quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023. Effective January 1, 2024 the Federal benefit rate is $943 for an individual and $1,415 for a couple.
Paused benefits earn delayed retirement credits for every month they're suspended until age 70. That can boost your benefits by 8% a year for a maximum of three years, resulting in a 24% bump. It's unclear how many people are taking the do-over.
A spouse who has never worked in paid jobs or has not worked to earn sufficient credits to be eligible for his/her own retired worker benefits can receive a spousal benefit that is 50 percent of the eligible worker's full benefit.
Over the last decade the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase has averaged about 2.6%. The COLA was 3.2% in 2024. Nearly 68 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.5% COLA beginning in January 2025.
you're eligible for some of your ex's Social Security
wives and widows. That means most divorced women collect their own Social Security while the ex is alive, but can apply for higher widow's rates when he dies.
Surviving spouse, at full retirement age or older, generally gets 100% of the worker's basic benefit amount. Surviving spouse, age 60 or older, but under full retirement age, gets between 71% and 99% of the worker's basic benefit amount.
You can claim even if your ex has remarried. You can claim even if your ex hasn't retired and isn't receiving Social Security benefits (as long as your ex is at least 62 and you've been divorced at least 2 years). Claiming won't reduce your ex's Social Security benefits or their current spouse's benefits.