Millions of Americans collect Social Security each month, but what they get depends on the age they choose to start collecting benefits.
Social Security benefits were created to cover around 40% of your income from before you retired.
This means you should have some sort of nest egg or retirement plan to use in addition to collecting benefits.
Social Security program and ages people retire
The average monthly benefit check for retired individuals is around $1,657.
There are different things that go into deciding how much a person is going to receive.
Social Security: Avoid these mistakes to see the biggest payments
How much a person earns over the course of their entire working life matters.
In addition, what age you start collecting benefits and the yearly COLA increase determine your monthly benefit.
Maximum benefit amounts
In 2022, those who retire at 65 and get the max amount would see $2,993.
Social Security: Who can get the maximum $4,194 benefit?
If you retire at 66 and could get the max, you’d see $3,240.
Age 70 in 2022 collecting the max is $4,194.
In order to have this happen, you need to have had constant earnings starting at age 22 and need to have earned the maximum taxable amount.
For 2022 that amount is $147,000.
Each year it is adjusted to match inflation.
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