Social Security Calculator

This Social Security calculator allows you to estimate how much you’ll receive from Social Security when you retire — adjusting the fields with your information might give you a better understanding of what your financial future could look like.

This calculator can also help you decide the best time to retire to maximize your Social Security benefits. In addition, it can help you determine how much you will need to receive from other sources to meet your financial needs and goals in retirement.

It only provides an estimate. The actual amount of your retirement benefits can vary depending on your actual work history and income.

The RetireGuide Social Security Calculator will give you an estimate of your Social Security benefits based on your current annual income.

More than 50 American retirees or their dependents receive Social Security benefits every month — including nearly nine out of every 10 people 65 and older in the United States.

Social Security can form a foundation for financial security in retirement, but Social Security retirement benefits may be only a fraction of your current annual earnings.

This calculator can give you a starting point to consider other retirement planning options to guarantee your financial future.

While this calculator provides an estimate of your Social Security retirement benefits, it does not reflect the exact amount you will receive.

The actual amount of your Social Security benefits depend on the year you were born and your lifetime earnings record.

This calculator bases its estimate on your current annual income and other information you provide. It does not access your earnings record over the course of your working life. The estimate does not consider changes in your earnings between now and your retirement.

There are certain requirements to collect Social Security benefits.

In addition, you have to be “insured” under Social Security — which means you have to have earned enough work credits to qualify for benefits. You earn one work credit for every quarter (three months) you work and pay Social Security taxes.

n 2023, you earn one credit for every $1,640 in covered earnings each year. You can earn a maximum of four credits per year. For example, by earning $6,560, you receive four credits, the maximum amount available in one year.

The number of work credits required to receive disability benefits varies by age. You need a minimum of six work credits regardless of age.

You need 40 work credits — 10 years of paying Social Security taxes — to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits.

Your spouse or dependents may qualify based on your work record. In that case, they do not need work credits.

The Social Security Administration — or SSA — uses a complex formula to calculate each person’s benefits. It takes into account lifetime earnings over 35 years of your life. The exact amount of your monthly benefit isn’t determined until you start collecting Social Security.

The formula relies on average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) and the National Average Wage Index (NAWI) to compute your primary insurance amount (PIA) and determine your monthly benefit amount.

The PIA is the benefit that individuals are eligible to receive at FRA. The Social Security Administration bases your monthly benefits on the PIA. But, it may be higher or lower than the PIA depending on when you decide to start collecting your benefits.

The amount of Social Security retirement benefits you receive can vary widely depending on when you decide to start collecting them. Waiting until after full retirement age to claim benefits can result in significantly higher payments from Social Security.

Full retirement age varies depending on the year you were born. But for everyone born in 1960 or later, the full retirement age is 67.

You can take early retirement at 62 and start claiming Social Security benefits. But they will be much less than if you waited until full retirement age. They will be even higher if you wait until you turn 70 to claim Social Security benefits.

After 70, the amount will remain the same regardless of how long you wait to start collecting them.

Based on the average future annual salary of $62,000 for a worker born in 1960 or later.

You can take your benefits early, but the Social Security Administration reduces the amount 0.05% for each month you start receiving benefits before you reach full retirement age — age 67 in this example.

As illustrated, your benefits will continue to increase each month you wait until you turn 70. This could be one reason to delay your collections.

In this example, if you wait until you turn 70, your monthly benefit check would be 24% higher than at full retirement age and 76% more than if you started collecting benefits when first eligible at 62.