How much Social Security will I get?
Four numbers decide the amount. Once you know which ones you control, the estimate stops being a mystery.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your Social Security retirement check is set by four numbers. First, your 35 best years of earnings, each capped at that year's taxable maximum and indexed to wage growth. Second, their monthly average, the AIME, rounded down to the dollar. Third, the formula of the year you turn 62, which for 2026 replaces 90% of the first $1,286 of AIME, 32% up to $7,749 and 15% above: that gives your primary insurance amount, or PIA. Fourth, the age you start, which keeps between 70% and 124% of the PIA when full retirement age is 67. For a worker born in 1964 who earned the equivalent of $60,000 a year in today's pay from 22 to 62, that is an AIME of $5,000, a PIA of $2,345.80, and $1,651 a month at 62, $2,345 at 67 or $2,908 at 70. The average retired worker received $2,087.52 in August 2026.
Your check from a salary and a start age
Monthly benefit, today's dollars
$2,345
| AIME (best 35 years) | $5,000 |
| PIA at full retirement age 67 | $2,345.80 |
| Share of the PIA at that age | 100.0% |
Worker born in 1964, pay from 22 to 62 at the same rank against the national average wage; 62 means 62 and 1 month.
Number one: your 35 best years
Everything starts with your earnings record, the year-by-year list of pay on which you paid Social Security tax. Earnings above each year's taxable maximum, $184,500 in 2026, are not counted and were not taxed. The SSA indexes each year before the year you turn 60 to today's wage level: a $16,196 salary in 1986 becomes $65,307 for someone turning 62 in 2026, because average wages grew about 4.0323 times since then. It then keeps the 35 highest indexed years. Fewer than 35 years means zeros in the average, which is the single most common reason for a lower check than expected; the page on short careers shows what each missing year costs.
Number two: the monthly average, AIME
The 35 indexed years are added and divided by 420, the number of months in 35 years, then rounded down to the dollar (20 CFR 404.211). For a career at $60,000 in today's pay, the AIME is $5,000; for $30,000, it is $2,499. A steady career at a given rank against the national average wage simply gives that salary divided by 12. The AIME page walks through the indexing year by year.
Number three: the formula of the year you turn 62
The AIME goes through three brackets, set by the bend points of the year you turn 62: in 2026, 90% of the first $1,286, 32% up to $7,749, 15% above (20 CFR 404.212). The result, rounded down to the dime, is your PIA, the amount payable at full retirement age. The formula is progressive: a $30,000 career gets a PIA of $1,545.50, about 62% of the salary, while a $60,000 career gets $2,345.80, about 47%. From the year you turn 62, every cost-of-living adjustment is added to the PIA, whether or not you have claimed. The PIA page goes into the details.
Number four: the age you start
Starting before full retirement age reduces the PIA for life; starting after it adds delayed credits until 70. With a full retirement age of 67, the check is 70% of the PIA at 62, 100% at 67 and 124% at 70. This is the only one of the four numbers you choose at the end, and it moves the amount more than a decade of extra work would. Use the break-even tool to compare starts.
Worked examples, from $30,000 to the maximum
| Pay in today's dollars | AIME | PIA | At 62 and 1 month | At 67 | At 70 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $2,499 | $1,545.50 | $1,088 | $1,545 | $1,916 |
| $45,000 | $3,750 | $1,945.80 | $1,370 | $1,945 | $2,412 |
| $60,000 | $5,000 | $2,345.80 | $1,651 | $2,345 | $2,908 |
| $80,000 | $6,666 | $2,879.00 | $2,027 | $2,879 | $3,569 |
| $100,000 | $8,333 | $3,313.10 | $2,332 | $3,313 | $4,108 |
| $140,000 | $11,666 | $3,813.10 | $2,685 | $3,813 | $4,728 |
| $184,500 | $14,358 | $4,216.90 | $2,969 | $4,216 | $5,228 |
The last line is a career at the taxable maximum every year: it lands on the SSA's own maximum figures for someone turning 62 in 2026, covered on the maximum benefit page. Doubling pay from $30,000 to $60,000 raises the PIA by about 52%, not 100%, because the 90% bracket is used up early.
Checking an estimate against the SSA's own example
The SSA publishes a worked case for 2026: a worker born in 1964 with earnings from 1986 to 2025. Its AIME is $5,825 and its PIA $2,609.80; at exactly 62 that pays $1,826, the $1,826 shown in the SSA example. The engine behind this page reproduces every step of it. Against the average benefit, $2,087.52 for retired workers in August 2026 according to the SSA Monthly Statistical Snapshot, this worker would be above the average at 67 and below it at 62. The average benefit page explains what that national figure hides.
Reading your own Statement
Your Social Security Statement shows a bar graph of estimated monthly benefits at 9 start ages, from 62 to 70, and your earnings history year by year. Two checks are worth doing. First, compare the earnings column with your W-2s or tax returns: a missing year lowers the average, and the regulations give 3 years, 3 months and 15 days after a year to correct it routinely (20 CFR 404.802). Second, count the years with earnings: fewer than 35 means another year of work replaces a zero, which is worth much more than raising a year that already counts. Then paste that column into the earnings-record calculator: it redoes the indexing and the formula on your actual years.
The same PIA also sets what your family can draw: up to half of it for a husband or wife at their own full retirement age, as the spousal calculator shows, and up to all of it for a widow or widower.