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InvestmentretirementUnited States only

Social Security Benefit Calculator

A Social Security benefit estimate from average indexed earnings, showing the progressive bend points and the adjustment for claiming early or late. The formula deliberately replaces far more of a low earner's income than a high earner's.

Also called: social security benefit estimate, ssa benefit calculator.

$
Monthly benefit
$2,631.08

$2,631.08 a month claiming at 67. At your full retirement age of 67 it would be $2,631.08, and the adjustment for claiming when you do is 0%.

Benefit at full retirement age
$2,631.08
Adjustment for your claiming age
0%
Annual benefit
$31,572.96
If you claimed at 62
$1,841.76
If you waited to 70
$3,262.54
Share of earnings replaced
43.85%
How this is calculated

An estimate, not an offer or a guarantee. Projected returns assume the rate you entered holds for the whole term, which no market does.

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

The benefit formula applies three replacement rates to three bands of average indexed monthly earnings: ninety percent of the first band, thirty-two percent of the next and fifteen percent above. That is why the replacement rate falls as earnings rise. The result is the benefit at full retirement age, then reduced for claiming early or increased by delayed retirement credits for waiting, at roughly eight percent a year up to seventy.

the benefit formula replaces 90% of the first band of earnings, 32% of the next and 15% above that
b
Earnings falling in each bend-point band (currency)

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

waiting to seventy adds three years of credits

Average indexed monthly earnings
$6,000.00
Age you claim
70
Your full retirement age
67

Monthly benefit$3,262.54

8% a year for three years

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a low earner sees a much higher replacement rate

Average indexed monthly earnings
$1,000.00
Age you claim
67
Your full retirement age
67

Monthly benefit$900.00

Below the first bend point the formula replaces 90%

Open this example

claiming at full retirement age

Average indexed monthly earnings
$6,000.00
Age you claim
67
Your full retirement age
67

Monthly benefit$2,631.08

boundary: no adjustment applies at full retirement age

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

  • The bend points used are indicative rather than the current year's published figures.
  • A full thirty-five year earnings record, with no years of zero earnings dragging the average down.

What it deliberately does not model

  • Bend points are indexed annually and this does not resolve them from a ruleset, so treat the figure as an estimate rather than a statement.
  • Spousal, survivor and disability benefits follow different rules entirely.
  • The windfall elimination provision for some public-sector workers is not applied.

Sources

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Why does my benefit replace less of my income than my colleague's?
Because the formula is deliberately progressive. Only fifteen percent of earnings above the top bend point is replaced, against ninety percent of the first band.
How much does waiting actually add?
Roughly eight percent a year between full retirement age and seventy, and it is permanent. That is a substantial and guaranteed increase, which is why the break-even ages fall in the late seventies.