Step 1: Calculate Your Monthly Earnings
- Calculate Your Monthly Earnings Your Social Security benefit calculation starts by looking at how long you worked and how much you made each year. ...
- Calculate Your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) Once you have calculated your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME), you'll plug that number into a formula to determine your Primary Insurance ...
- Adjust Your PIA for the Age You Will Begin Benefits
- 90 percent of the first $1,024 of your AIME;
- plus 32 percent of any amount over $1,024 up to $6,172;
- plus 15 percent of any amount over $6,172.
How do you determine SS Benefits?
- Less than $25,000 single/$32,000 joint: 0% taxable.
- $25,000 to $34,000 single/$32,000 to $44,000 joint: up to 50% taxable.
- Greater than $34,000 single/$44,000 joint: up to 85% taxable.
How do I estimate my SS Benefits?
You may want to may want to consider using my company's software — Maximize My Social Security or MaxiFi Planner — to ensure your household receives the highest lifetime benefits. Social Security calculators provided by other companies or non-profits may provide proper suggestions if they were built with extreme care. Best, Larry
When can you collect SS retirement?
You can begin collecting Social Security as early as age 62, although you will not receive full benefits. Your benefit amount will be slightly reduced from what it would have been had you waited until full retirement age.
Can I get SSI benefits if I get retirement?
You can get both SSI and Social Security retirement benefits at the same time, but there are a few requirements for SSI benefits, including: Having countable income below $783 per month for...
How the Retirement Estimator Works
The Retirement Estimator calculates a benefit amount for you based on your actual Social Security earnings record. Please keep in mind that these are just estimates.
Who Can Use the Retirement Estimator
You can use the Retirement Estimator if you have enough Social Security credits to qualify for benefits and you are not:
How Long Can You Stay On Each Page?
For security reasons, there are time limits for viewing each page. You will receive a warning if you don’t do anything for 25 minutes, but you will be able to extend your time on the page.
What is the formula for Social Security benefits?
The Social Security benefits formula is designed to replace a higher proportion of income for low-income earners than for high-income earners. To do this, the formula has what are called “bend points." These bend points are adjusted for inflation each year.
How is Social Security decided?
Your Social Security benefit is decided based on your lifetime earnings and the age you retire and begin taking payments. Your lifetime earnings are converted to a monthly average based on the 35 years in which you earned the most, adjusted for inflation. Those earnings are converted to a monthly insurance payment based on your full retirement age.
What is wage indexing?
Social Security uses a process called wage indexing to determine how to adjust your earnings history for inflation. Each year, Social Security publishes the national average wages for the year. You can see this published list on the National Average Wage Index page. 3 .
What age do you get FRA?
This is the amount you will get if you start benefits at your Full Retirement Age (FRA). Your FRA can vary depending on the year you were born. For people born between 1943 and 1954, as in our example, the FRA is age 66. For people born on Jan. 1, the FRA is based on the year prior.
Is Social Security higher at age 70?
If you have already had most of your 35 years of earnings, and you are near 62 today, the age 70 benefit amount you see on your Social Security statement will likely be higher due to these cost of living adjustments .
Can you calculate inflation rate at 60?
Until you know the average wages for the year you turn 60, there is no way to do an exact calculation. However, you could attribute an assumed inflation rate to average wages to estimate the average wages going forward and use those to create an estimate.
Benefit Calculators
The best way to start planning for your future is by creating a my Social Security account online. With my Social Security, you can verify your earnings, get your Social Security Statement, and much more – all from the comfort of your home or office.
Online Benefits Calculator
These tools can be accurate but require access to your official earnings record in our database. The simplest way to do that is by creating or logging in to your my Social Security account. The other way is to answer a series of questions to prove your identity.
Additional Online Tools
Find your full retirement age and learn how your monthly benefits may be reduced if you retire before your full retirement age.
What is the benefit estimate?
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. Although the "Quick Calculator" makes an initial assumption ...
How old do you have to be to file for Social Security?
You must be at least age 22 to use the form at right. Lack of a substantial earnings history will cause retirement benefit estimates to be unreliable. Enter your date of birth ( month / day / year format) / /. Enter earnings in the current year: $. Your annual earnings must be earnings covered by Social Security.
How old do you have to be to use Quick Calculator?
You must be at least age 22 to use the form at right.
What happens if you don't give a retirement date?
If you do not give a retirement date and if you have not reached your normal (or full) retirement age, the Quick Calculator will give benefit estimates for three different retirement ages .
Primary Insurance Amount
The basic Social Security benefit is called the primary insurance amount (PIA). Typically the PIA is a function of average indexed monthly earnings (AIME). We determine the PIA by applying a PIA formula to AIME. The formula we use depends on the year of first eligibility (the year a person attains age 62 in retirement cases).
Benefit Based on PIA and Age
The amount of retirement benefits paid depends on a person's age when he or she begins receiving benefits. We reduce benefits taken before a person's normal (or full) retirement age and we increase benefits taken after normal retirement age.
Two Other Methods
Two other methods for computing a PIA have limited applicability. Relatively few new beneficiaries qualify for these two other methods.
What is the retirement system?
Traditionally, the retirement system in the U.S. has been a three-legged stool: Social Security , savings and pensions. Social Security was never intended to be the sole source of income for retirement.
Can Social Security increase if you wait to collect?
Payments don’t increase if you wait to collect past 70. Your marital status can also be a factor. For example, if you were divorced after 10 years of marriage, you may be able to base your Social Security payments on your ex-spouse’s salary. This calculator estimates Social Security benefits for single people who have never been married, ...
How much is spousal benefit reduced?
A spousal benefit is reduced 25/36 of one percent for each month before normal retirement age, up to 36 months. If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced 5/12 of one percent per month.
What age can a spouse file for Social Security?
When a worker files for retirement benefits, the worker's spouse may be eligible for a benefit based on the worker's earnings. Another requirement is that the spouse must be at least age 62 or have a qualifying child in her/his care. By a qualifying child, we mean a child who is under age 16 or who receives Social Security disability benefits.
What is the reduction factor for spousal benefits?
For a spouse who is not entitled to benefits on his or her own earnings record, this reduction factor is applied to the base spousal benefit, which is 50 percent of the worker's primary insurance amount. For example, if the worker's primary insurance amount is $1,600 and the worker's spouse chooses to begin receiving benefits 36 months ...
Can a spouse reduce their spousal benefit?
However, if a spouse is caring for a qualifying child, the spousal benefit is not reduced. If a spouse is eligible for a retirement benefit based on his or her own earnings, and if that benefit is higher than the spousal benefit, then we pay the retirement benefit. Otherwise we pay the spousal benefit. Compute the effect of early retirement ...
How much is the early retirement benefit reduced?
In the case of early retirement, a benefit is reduced 5/9 of one percent for each month before normal retirement age, up to 36 months. If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced 5/12 of one percent per month.
How old do you have to be to start receiving Social Security?
Enter the effective month and year for which you would like to begin receiving benefits: / You must be at least age 62 to begin receiving benefits. The month you will reach your normal retirement age is . Effect of your retirement choice on your benefit:
How early can I retire?
A worker can choose to retire as early as age 62, but doing so may result in a reduction of as much as 30 percent. Starting to receive benefits after normal retirement age may result in larger benefits. With delayed retirement credits , a person can receive his or her largest benefit by retiring at age 70. Early retirement reduces benefits.
What is delayed retirement?
Delayed retirement increases benefits. Delayed retirement credit is generally given for retirement after the normal retirement age. To receive full credit, you must be insured at your normal retirement age. No credit is given after age 69.
When do you get delayed retirement credits?
No credit is given after age 69. If you retire before age 70, some of your delayed retirement credits will not be applied until the January after you start benefits. The calculator below gives you the amount with all credits applied for comparison purposes. Delayed retirement credits increase a retiree's benefits.
Does delayed retirement increase benefits?
Delayed retirement credits increase a retiree's benefits. The table below shows the delayed retirement credit by year of birth. If you enter your date of birth and the effective month for beginning your benefits, we will tell you the effect of early or delayed retirement as a percentage of your primary insurance amount.
