For most of the last century, 65 has been considered the standard retirement age in the United States, but that doesn’t mean most Americans actually retire at that age. In 1992, for example, the average retirement age in the U.S. was 62 for men and 59 for women, according to a Forbes report that cited data from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Since then, the average retirement age has ticked closer to what used to be considered the norm. In 2001, the average retirement age was 63 for men and 60 for women, and nine years later those averages rose to 64 and 62, respectively. The average retirement age was 61 in 2022.
Of course, just because you retire at 65 doesn’t mean you have to start collecting Social Security benefits at that age. You can wait until as late as age 70 — something many Americans do, because the longer you wait, the higher your monthly payment.
For those who are collecting Social Security at age 65, the average payment in 2022 was about $2,484 a month, according to the Social Security Administration. That’s based on the agency’s estimate that the average annual benefit was $29,806 for Social Security recipients who are age 65. The average yearly benefit for 65-year-olds in 2023 has risen to $30,708, or $2,559 a month.
Those numbers are much higher than the average monthly benefit for all Social Security recipients, which was $1,693.88 as of February 2023, according to the SSA. The difference is due to a number of factors — including the fact that recipients younger than 65 typically get lower payments.
Average benefits for 65-year-olds have been on the rise for a couple of decades in terms of current dollars. But when you adjust for inflation, the payments have been moving lower in recent years. According to the SSA, the estimated average yearly benefit for recipients aged 65 in constant 2001 dollars is as follows:
2020: $15,313
2021: $15,269
2022: $15,230
2023: $15,189
2024: $15,142
Although the SSA implements yearly cost-of-living adjustments to help beneficiaries deal with inflation, those adjustments aren’t always effective in combating the actual inflation rate. Look no further than 2022, when the COLA was 5.9% but the actual inflation rate was running above 8% for much of the year.
If you are approaching age 65 and want to get an estimate of your Social Security benefits, the AARP recommends using its ownSocial Security Benefits Calculatoror checking your onlineMy Social Security account. The latter option bases the estimate on your earnings record on file with the SSA. With the AARP calculator, you’ll need to provide your average annual income.
If you have a personal my Social Security account, you can get an estimate of your future retirement benefits and see the effects of different retirement age scenarios. If you don't have a personal my Social Security account, create one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount.
The maximum benefit is $3,822 for someone at full retirement age in 2024. Individuals must wait until full retirement age to claim benefits and have been a high earner for 35 years to earn the maximum Social Security benefit.
Social Security's special minimum benefit pays at least $49.40 per month in 2023 and $50.90 in 2024. Social Security's special minimum benefit tops out at $1,033.50 per month in 2023 and $1,066.50 in 2024. You'll receive 100% of the benefit if you file at full retirement age or later.
File at 65 and you lose 13.33 percent. If your full retirement benefit is $1,800 a month, over 20 years that 13.33 percent penalty adds up to a little over $57,585. AARP's Social Security Calculator can give you a sense of the financial impact of claiming benefits at various ages.
You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. However, you are entitled to full benefits when you reach your full retirement age. If you delay taking your benefits from your full retirement age up to age 70, your benefit amount will increase.
According to recently released data from the SSA's Office of the Actuary, just over 590,000 retired-worker beneficiaries were receiving $1,298.26 per month at age 62, as of December 2023. That compares to about 2.11 million aged 66 retired-worker beneficiaries who were taking home $1,739.92 per month.
Benefit estimates depend on your date of birth and on your earnings history. For security, the "Quick Calculator" does not access your earnings record; instead, it will estimate your earnings based on information you provide. So benefit estimates made by the Quick Calculator are rough.
Social Security bases your retirement benefits on your lifetime earnings. We adjust or “index” your actual earnings to account for changes in average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then we calculate your average indexed monthly earnings from your highest 35 years of earnings.
This calculation looks at years of coverage in place of someone's earnings to estimate how much they might receive from Social Security. For 2024, the special minimum benefit starts at $50.90 for someone with 11 years of coverage and goes to $1,066.50 for workers with 30 years of coverage.
But even if you never worked and therefore don't have an earnings record, you're not necessarily out of luck. If you're married (or were married) to someone who's entitled to Social Security, you can collect spousal benefits equal to 50% of your husband or wife's benefits at full retirement age.
1. You're Planning Your End-of-Life Care. Your Social Security benefits stop paying at your death, so if you die before collecting benefits, you'll have missed out on benefits entirely. You need to figure out how to maximize your Social Security income instead.
Social Security benefits are typically computed using "average indexed monthly earnings." This average summarizes up to 35 years of a worker's indexed earnings. We apply a formula to this average to compute the primary insurance amount (PIA). The PIA is the basis for the benefits that are paid to an individual.
Your Social Security Statement (Statement) is available to view online by opening a my Social Security account. It is useful for people of all ages who want to learn about their future Social Security benefits and current earnings history.
Visit the Social Security website and use one of its online benefit calculators to determine your retirement estimate based on your earnings record. 4. Wait until you decide to start receiving benefits, and let the SSA calculate the amount for you.
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