Are You Getting More Than the Average Social Security Benefit?
Category: Social Security
The range of possible retirement benefits from Social Security is huge. As of 2025, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit is $1,976, reflecting a 2.5% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) from the previous year. But some people get less, based on their lifetime earning history and at what age they started taking their benefits. How does your benefit (or expected benefit) stack up against that average – are you getting more, or less?
Minimum – Average – and Maximum Benefits
- Minimum Benefit
- The minimum benefit for someone who has contributed for 35 years into the Social Security system is about $1100/month. People who contributed for less than years, but enough to qualify, will get less.
- Maximum Benefit Amounts:
- Individuals retiring at full retirement age (FRA) in 2025 can receive up to $4,018 per month.
- Those delaying retirement until age 70 may receive up to $5,108 monthly. Only a small percentage of people receive the maximum benefit, because to get it you have to have contributed the maximum amount for 35 years. Nasdaq
- Full Retirement Age (FRA) Adjustments:
- In 2025, the FRA continues to rise, reflecting longer life expectancies. If you were born in 1960 or later your FRA is 67 years. Claiming benefits before reaching the FRA results in a reduced monthly payment by up to 30%, while delaying benefits until after the FRA increases payments by 8% per year until age 70. Investopedia
- Legislative Changes:
- The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). This change restores full benefits to over 3.2 million public workers, including teachers, police officers, and firefighters, who were previously affected by these provisions.
- Taxation of Benefits:
- Social Security benefits may be subject to federal income tax if your combined income exceeds certain thresholds. Additionally, some states tax Social Security benefits.
- Inflation Considerations:
- The annual COLA aims to adjust benefits in line with inflation. While the 2025 COLA is 2.5%, forecasts suggest a potential decrease in the 2026 adjustment, with early estimates around 2.1% to 2.3%.
Social Security is important for most retired people. 37% of men and 42% of women get at least 50% of their income from Social Security. .
For more, see this Fact Sheet from Social Security
Comments: It seems like this discussion is just going back and forth from each side’s respective silos, so we are closing comments.)
For further reading:
File at 62 or age 70 – Which Is Better?
‘You worked it, you earned it’: Cuellar celebrates passage of Social Security Fairness Act
comments for this post are closed
Comments on "Are You Getting More Than the Average Social Security Benefit?"
Admin says:
This quote make you wonder what the average Social Security benefit might drop to:
Yesterday, on the Fox News Channel, Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, praised the Department of Government Efficiency because it was “going to cut a trillion dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse.” Lutnick told personality Jesse Watters, “You know Social Security is wrong, you know Medicare and Medicaid is wrong, so he's going to cut one trillion.”
Hcbury says:
So far it has been easy to cut a trillion dollars of waste from various departments by eliminating fraud which, in the case of social security, may include dead peoples accounts receiving benefits and illegal immigrants fraudulently receiving benefits among other possibilities. Admin, why stir up fear???? I wonder what the average Social Security benefits might increase to when a trillion dollars of waste, fraud and abuse are removed.
Brandy Christin says:
To Hcbury: Well said!
Mike says:
Hcbury can you provide verified examples of a TRILLION dollars in waste, fraud and abuse? So far the claim is $55 billion and many of the claims of waste have been proven to be false, misleading or presented out of context. An online search for DOGE claims provides examples.
For example, claims of people getting SS payments at 150 years old are rampant but not true, SS stops payments to anyone at age 115. It is addressed in Social Security's operation manual section GN 02602.578 Termination of Entitlement for Title II Beneficiaries Who are Age 115 or Older
Claims that tens of millions of people over age 100 are collecting benefits are false too, SS records show about 89,00 people get benefits which is in line with the Census Bureau records showing the number of people over age 100. 98% of people listed by SS as over age 100 aren't receiving benefits From the Office of Inspector General at Social Security "SSA issues over $1 trillion in benefit payments annually. Even the slightest error in the overall payment process can result in billions of dollars in improper payments. For example, from FYs 2015 through 2022, SSA paid almost $8.6 trillion in benefits and made approximately $71.8 billion (0.84 percent) in improper payments, most of which were overpayments." What insurance company wouldn't want that record? It would cost more to recover that amount then what the resulting savings would be, making it an inefficient investment.
Seems a lack of investment in Social Security systems are part of the reason is finding 150 year old beneficiaries on SS databases. One estimate says a dollar invested in up to date computers could save ten dollars in improper payments. That would go a long way to solving the impending insolvency of the system. Illegals are not the reason for SS problems, it's a math problem, 70.6 million people get SS benefits, 10,000 people turn 65 every day and the funding to support that growing population is not there.
Social Security is a perfect example of what happens when Congress doesn't fund an agency properly. It results in understaffing, low pay that doesn't attract top talent, antiquated equipment, increased workloads and the inevitable failure to provide the needed services. Mission Accomplished! After the failure point to the agency and say "See, we told you so, the government bureaucrats can't do anything right, time to privatize or dismantle the operation all together." Mission Accomplished! After the current purge of the civil service what talented person would want the job and will likely silence any qualified person lucky enough to keep their job. Mission Accomplished!
It's a sad irony that the person in charge of rooting out waste fraud and abuse has a track record of defrauding, deceiving or harming the government, investors, consumers, the environment, his workers, a long history with tax violations, bribing foreign officials and accounting fraud while receiving 121 government subsidies and often paying no corporate taxes. https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/?company=tesla
Daryl says:
Really appreciate your research and insights, Mike. Wish we had you on speed dial for some of this stuff. Podcast, maybe!
Donna says:
Thank you for the facts, Mike!
JCarol says:
Mike, thank you for taking the time to research and explain the truths of SS and Doge's, ahem, investigations.
The long delays in getting responses from government employees during the pandemic's long work-from-home period will be a small taste of what's ahead of us, should all of these promised/threatened layoffs come to fruition.
p.s. Daryl, I never heard the ugly term, "Boomer Remover."
In my experience, Millennials and other younger generations were deeply worried for - and protective of - our generation during the height of the Covid crisis and throughout subsequent spikes.
Daryl says:
JCarol: I don’t make this stuff up. Here’s one of the links from back in March 2020. I was shocked/amused, too, when I first heard of it. Yet, I wish I had recorded the anti-boomer sentiment circulating among the 20-something techies who were my coworkers back in 2008, they wanted the social security rug pulled out from under us right away (among other things.) The 21-27 yr olds I worked with might have all still lived with mommy, but they all voted.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/19/morbid-boomer-remover-coronavirus-meme-only-makes-millennials-seem-more-awful/
“There’s a morbid — and chillingly astute — new slang term for the coronavirus pandemic: boomer remover. Spawned in the underbelly of Reddit, the nihilistic catchphrase has gained traction on all social media platforms, especially among savvy millennials who picked up on the fact that the COVID-19 virus seems to take aim at baby boomers, or those aged between 55 and 75…Hence, “boomer remover” is now officially a trending meme.”
And that’s why I’m cynical and leery of our ability to hold on to senior programs today. Especially when I heard of who pushed this administration over the finish line: young white men:
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/12/nx-s1-5181804/young-men-helped-trump-retake-the-white-house-a-trend-years-in-the-making
Unlike the rest of my life, I really WANT to be wrong about all of this stuff that’s happening lately.
Stevo says:
This site has turned into an Ad for retirement developments so actually reading an article related to the process of retirement was refreshing. The SS statistics in the article were interesting to me but I can do without the negativity in all the comments. I come here looking for help in navigating my retirement not to read this absolute mess that social media has ushered in to the world.
Kat says:
Interesting discussion (I also appreciated the factual info from Mike correcting the disinformation that was widely reported). Lately I've also heard estimates of big savings to Social Security & Medicare as a result of the large number of seniors who died during Covid. Are we supposed to be happy about that? Personally, when I retired I chose to collecting lower spousal widow/widower's benefits. I intended to collect on my own higher record (near the maximum) when I hit 70. However, the daily news stories about senior deaths during the pandemic were red flags. I ultimately decided to switch to my own benefits at 68, instead of waiting until 70 after factoring lower life expectancies from the pandemic into my break-even calculation. After all, we all play the odds based on health, family longevity and more. Now we also have to factor in the likelihood of political interference with benefits, and the possibility that funding will run out. Sigh. I need a glass of wine.
Rufus says:
I can't help but think back to the relatively recent purchase of twitter ( now known as X ) by Elon Musk and the subsequent dismissal of 75 -80 % of the original staff which was supposed to spell doom for X. Turns out to be a brilliant move, to trim not just the fat but apparently the morbid obesity that existed in that company. I'm certainly not suggesting that Social Security has that much waste fraud and abuse but when we humans are put in charge of spending "other peoples money" there's ALWAYS waste etc. Oh yeah and when Mike refers to Social Security records showing thus and such, are we expected to believe whatever they report? I think not. To Elon Musk and his fellow detectives I say "sic 'em!
Daryl says:
You know when a salesman rushes you, and you have to make that decision right away or lose the discount? I personally distrust that technique and never bite. I’m getting that feeling right now with the shock-and-awe campaign which keeps screwing up and then scrambling for bandaids. It feels like a smokescreen for something else. That’s just my personal uneasy feeling, not an invitation to a duel.
Daryl says:
(And you’re right, Stevo, we need some positive solutions and ideas to prepare for all scenarios. So far this is just a potential obstacle to successfully navigating our retirement. Wallowing in fear and doubt doesn't solve anything or help anyone sleep better. I’ll keep reminding myself…)