Social Security benefits play a key role in retirement planning for lots of Americans—roughly 51 million retirees receive these benefits each month. For people age 65 and older, these monthly payments represent about 30% of their income. In October 2024, the average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was $1,924.35. But how much you actually receive each month depends in part on your age when you start receiving benefits.
Key Takeaways
- The amount of Social Security benefits depends on several factors, including your age when you start receiving those benefits.
- Waiting until age 70 maximizes your Social Security benefits.
- Once you start taking Social Security benefits, you receive them for the rest of your life.
How Are Your Social Security Benefits Calculated?
The Social Security Administration uses four key factors to calculate your benefits:
- Work history: You must work at least 35 years for the most benefits.
- Earnings history: The SSA bases its calculations on your average indexed monthly earnings for your 35 highest-earning years.
- Full retirement age: This is the age at which you become eligible for full benefits.
- Claiming age: This is the age when you actually start receiving benefits.
The SSA uses your average earnings during the 35 years when you earned the most money, adjusted for inflation, and applies a formula to this number to reach your basic benefit.
Your Average Social Security Benefits at Ages 62, 67, and 70
There are three milestones for receiving Social Security benefits: Age 62 is the earliest you can claim benefits, 67 is most people’s full retirement age, and 70 is when monthly benefits stop increasing if you delay claiming them past your full retirement age.
To see how waiting to claim your benefits can affect your payments, here are the average monthly benefit amounts in each age category, as of December 2023:
| Age | Benefit | ||
| All Retired Workers | Retired Men | Retired Women | |
| 62 | $1,379.75 | $1,528.62 | $1,242.33 |
| 67 | $1,852.82 | $2,061.41 | $1,650.52 |
| 70 | $2,021.81 | $2,237.87 | $1,806.10 |
The Later the Better
If you start receiving your Social Security benefits early, you will receive less than if you wait until age 70. That difference can be immense. For example, if you are born after 1960, your full retirement age is 67. If you choose to receive benefits at age 62, you will receive just 70% of your primary insurance amount that you would receive at age 67. If you wait until you’re 70, you would receive 124% of your primary insurance rate.
Say, for example, your primary insurance amount is $1,000 at age 67. If you start taking benefits at age 62, you would receive $700. If you wait until age 70, you would receive $1,240.
Cost of Living Adjustment
Periodically, the Social Security Administration increases its benefit checks with a cost of living adjustment (COLA). For 2025, the COLA adjustment is 2.5%.
The Bottom Line
Social Security benefits make up an important part of your retirement income. The later you wait to start receiving those benefits, the more you could receive. However, it’s important to remember that these benefits should not be your only source of income after retirement. Investing in retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs can also provide necessary funds to help you live comfortably in retirement.
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