Social Security Calculator: Earnings and Claiming Age
How much Social Security pays each month depends on your earnings and the age you claim. Claim before your full retirement age and the monthly amount is lower. Claim later, up to 70, and it is higher. Enter your monthly benefit at full retirement age, your birth year and the age you plan to claim. The calculator shows the monthly and yearly benefit at that age, its share of your full benefit and the age at which waiting breaks even. The From earnings mode works that full benefit out for you: average indexed monthly earnings, then the formula in the law with its bend points, then the claiming age. The Spousal benefit mode takes the worker's benefit at full retirement age and shows what a spouse gets, by the age the spouse starts. SSA's own estimate at my Social Security is the one to rely on.
Take it from the benefit estimates on your Social Security statement.
Born on January 1? Enter the year before.
Monthly benefit at 62 years
$1,400.00
Yearly benefit
$16,800.00
Share of your full benefit
70.00%
Full retirement age
67 years
Break-even age
78 years and 8 months
You claim 60 months before your full retirement age, which cuts the benefit by 30.00%. Claiming at full retirement age instead pays $2,000.00 a month. It starts later, and by 78 years and 8 months it has paid at least as much in total.
This is an estimate before Medicare premiums and taxes. The calculator rounds the benefit down to the next 10 cents, as SSA does. SSA then takes off any Medicare Part B premium and pays whole dollars. The break-even age is a plain sum of payments, with no cost-of-living adjustments and no discounting. A claiming age after full retirement age shows the benefit with all delayed retirement credits applied. If you start before 70, SSA adds some of those credits only in the following January.
To work the benefit out from earnings, press From earnings above. For an estimate based on your own earnings record, sign in to my Social Security at ssa.gov. To check the percentage for an exact birth date, use SSA's early or late retirement calculator.
This tab does no indexing, so enter a figure you have already indexed, with each year up to the wage base. A plain average of old pay comes out too low. Year by year does the indexing for you.
Any of the 35 you leave out count as zero.
One year and one amount per line. It opens with SSA's own example worker, born in 1965. Your statement at my Social Security includes your earnings history. Any year you leave out counts as zero. You can add later years with what you expect to earn, in today's dollars.
The year you reach 62 picks the formula. Born on January 1? Enter the year before.
Monthly benefit at 67 years
$2,403.70
Yearly benefit
$28,844.40
Monthly at full retirement age (PIA)
$2,403.70
Average indexed monthly earnings
$5,083.00
Share of the full benefit
100.00%
Full retirement age
67 years
The formula for 2027, on an AIME of $5,083.00
90% of the first $1,340.00 is $1,206.00.
32% of the next $3,743.00 is $1,197.76.
15% of the rest, $0.00, is $0.00.
The sum is $2,403.76, which rounds down to $2,403.70.
The bend points are $1,340.00 and $8,077.00.
You reach 62 in 2027, so this indexes earnings to 2025. Earnings from 2025 on go in at face value. SSA then adds each cost-of-living adjustment starting with 2027, and this result does not.
This is a rough figure from the formula. SSA's own estimate, from your earnings record at my Social Security, is the one to rely on. If you already receive benefits, this is not your payment, so use SSA's figure. This page does not say when to claim.
What it leaves out. The calculator counts every year you list, while SSA starts with the years before your benefits begin and can add later years in a recomputation. It does not count quarters of coverage, and it leaves out cost-of-living adjustments, the family maximum, the retirement earnings test, Medicare premiums and tax on benefits. It has no disability or survivor computation, no special minimum benefit and neither of SSA's two other computing methods, which SSA says few new beneficiaries qualify for. It rounds down once more at the claiming age, to 10 cents. SSA then pays whole dollars.
WEP and GPO are not applied. SSA says the Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, ended both, and that they do not apply to benefits payable for January 2024 and later (Internet Archive copy of October 26, 2026, a page last updated July 21, 2025). The notes to 42 USC 402 and 42 USC 415 record Public Law 118-273 striking out those provisions.
Sources. ssa.gov blocks automated reading, so these are Internet Archive copies: bend points (October 24, 2026), average wage index (October 27, 2026, through 2025), wage base (October 26, 2026) and SSA's example workers (October 20, 2026). The 2027 figures match SSA's Federal Register notice published October 26, 2026. The formula is from 42 USC 415 and 20 CFR 404.211, read on November 3, 2026. SSA must publish these figures by November 1, so the next set is due by November 1, 2027.
From the worker's Social Security statement. The worker must have filed for benefits.
Born on January 1? Enter the year before.
Under 16, or receiving Social Security disability benefits.
Optional. Leave it empty if you have none.
Monthly spousal benefit
$650.00
Yearly spousal benefit
$7,800.00
Share of the worker's benefit
32.50%
Base spousal benefit
$1,000.00
Spouse's full retirement age
67 years
Starting 60 months before full retirement age reduces the base benefit.
This rests on SSA's page Benefits for Spouses, in the Internet Archive copy of October 24, 2026. The page says it was last reviewed or modified on September 25, 2013, so check the rule with SSA. The result is an estimate before Medicare premiums and taxes, rounded down once to 10 cents. The calculator does not cover divorced spouses, survivor benefits or a family maximum. It does not say when to start.
How to use the Social Security Calculator
- Enter your monthly benefit at full retirement age in dollars. Your Social Security statement estimates your retirement benefit at nine starting ages. Use the estimate for your full retirement age. You can read the statement in your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.
- Enter the year you were born. If your birthday is January 1, enter the year before, because SSA counts you with the previous year.
- Choose your claiming age in years and months, anywhere from 62 years and 0 months to 70 years and 0 months.
- Read the result. It updates when you change a field, so there is no button to press. You get your full retirement age, the monthly and yearly benefit at the claiming age, that benefit as a share of your full benefit and the break-even age.
- Change the claiming age to compare. Every month earlier or later changes the percentage.
- To start from earnings, press From earnings. Enter your average yearly earnings, already indexed, and the years with earnings. Or press Year by year and list each year with its amount, and the calculator does the wage base and the indexing. Then enter your birth year and claiming age.
- Read your average indexed monthly earnings, the formula line by line and the benefit at your claiming age.
- For a spouse, press Spousal benefit. Enter the worker's benefit at full retirement age, the spouse's birth year and the age the spouse starts, and say whether a qualifying child is in the spouse's care.
How Social Security is calculated
AIME = the 35 highest years of indexed earnings ÷ 420 months, rounded down to the next dollar PIA = 90% of AIME up to the first bend point + 32% from there to the second + 15% above it, rounded down to the next 10 cents, before cost-of-living adjustments Before full retirement age: 5/9 of 1% less per month for the first 36 months, 5/12 of 1% less for each month beyond After full retirement age: 2/3 of 1% more per month, up to age 70 Monthly benefit = full benefit × percentage, rounded down to the next 10 cents Spousal benefit = half of the worker's benefit, 25/36 of 1% less per month for the first 36 months before full retirement age, 5/12 of 1% less for each month beyond
The law works the benefit out in steps. Each year of earnings counts up to that year's wage base. SSA multiplies it by the national average wage index for the second year before you reach 62, divided by the index for that year, and rounds to the nearer cent. Earnings from that indexing year on go in at face value. SSA adds your 35 highest years, divides by 420 months and rounds down to a whole dollar. That is your average indexed monthly earnings, or AIME. The bend points depend on the year you reach 62, and for 2027 they are $1,340 and $8,077. The formula turns AIME into your primary insurance amount, or PIA, which is the benefit at full retirement age. SSA raises the PIA by each cost-of-living adjustment starting with the year you reach 62, and the calculator does not. The claiming age rules are the ones SSA publishes for people born in 1943 or later. Claiming 60 months early costs 36 × 5/9 + 24 × 5/12 = 30%. Claiming 36 months late adds 36 × 2/3 = 24%. SSA rounds a benefit down to the next 10 cents, and so does the calculator. SSA then takes off any Medicare Part B premium and pays whole dollars, so your deposit can be lower than the figure here. The result is an estimate before Medicare premiums and taxes. The break-even age compares your claiming age with claiming at full retirement age. It adds up the monthly payments of both, with no cost-of-living adjustments and no discounting, and gives the first age at which the later start has paid at least as much. The spousal benefit has its own reduction, 25/36 of 1% a month. It takes the base benefit, half of the worker's, so 36 months early costs 25% of the base. With a qualifying child in the spouse's care, SSA does not reduce it.
Worked example
These are example numbers. Say your statement estimates $2,000 a month at full retirement age. You were born in 1964, so your full retirement age is 67 years. Choose a claiming age of 62 years and 0 months. That is 60 months early and cuts the benefit by 30.00%. The calculator shows a monthly benefit of $1,400.00, a yearly benefit of $16,800.00 and a share of 70.00%. The break-even age is 78 years and 8 months. By then $2,000.00 a month from 67 has added up to $280,000.00, the same as $1,400.00 a month from 62. These are the calculator's default inputs, so you can check each figure above. The Spousal benefit mode opens with a worker's $2,000.00 and a spouse born in 1964 who starts at 62 years and 0 months, 60 months early. The base is $1,000.00, the reduction is 36 × 25/36 + 24 × 5/12 = 35%, and the spouse gets $650.00 a month, or $7,800.00 a year. That is 32.50% of the worker's benefit. SSA's own example is a worker's $1,600 and a spouse 36 months early: an $800.00 base less 25% is $600.00.
More examples
They use example numbers, apart from SSA's own worker in the fifth. Type them in to follow along.
Waiting until 70
Keep $2,000 and 1964, and choose 70 years and 0 months. That is 36 months after full retirement age and adds 24.00%. The monthly benefit is $2,480.00 and the yearly benefit $29,760.00. The break-even age is 82 years and 6 months.
A full retirement age between 66 and 67
Enter $1,850 and 1959. The full retirement age is 66 years and 10 months. Choose 68 years and 0 months, which is 14 months late. The share is 109.33%. The monthly benefit is $2,022.60 after rounding down to 10 cents, and the yearly benefit is $24,271.20. The break-even age is 80 years and 7 months.
From earnings, an average
The From earnings mode opens with someone born in 1965, average indexed earnings of $61,000 a year and 35 years with earnings, claiming at 67 years and 0 months. They reach 62 in 2027, so the bend points are $1,340 and $8,077. AIME is $61,000 × 35 ÷ 420 = $5,083.33, rounded down to $5,083.00. Then 90% of $1,340 is $1,206.00, and 32% of the next $3,743 is $1,197.76. Nothing reaches the 15% band. The sum is $2,403.76, which rounds down to a PIA of $2,403.70. Their full retirement age is 67 years, so the monthly benefit is $2,403.70 and the yearly benefit $28,844.40. Choose a claiming age of 62 years and 0 months and the share is 70.00%, so the monthly benefit is $1,682.50.
From earnings, fewer than 35 years
Keep $61,000 and 1965, and enter 25 years with earnings. The other 10 of the 35 years count as zero. AIME is $61,000 × 25 ÷ 420 = $3,630.95, rounded down to $3,630.00. Then 90% of $1,340 is $1,206.00, and 32% of the next $2,290 is $732.80. The PIA is $1,938.80.
From earnings, year by year
Year by year opens with case A from SSA's examples for 2027, a worker born in 1965 with earnings from 1987 to 2026. The calculator indexes each year to 2025, drops the 5 lowest of the 40 years and gets an AIME of $6,072.00, the figure on SSA's page. Then 90% of $1,340 is $1,206.00, and 32% of the next $4,732 is $1,514.24. The sum is $2,720.24, which rounds down to a PIA of $2,720.20.
Full retirement age, bend points and wage base
The share columns show the benefit at 62 years and 0 months and at 70 years and 0 months as a percentage of the full benefit, as the calculator prints it. The bend points go by the year you reach 62, and the wage base by the year of the earnings.
| Birth year | Full retirement age | Share at 62 | Share at 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 66 years | 75.00% | 132.00% |
| 1955 | 66 years and 2 months | 74.17% | 130.67% |
| 1956 | 66 years and 4 months | 73.33% | 129.33% |
| 1957 | 66 years and 6 months | 72.50% | 128.00% |
| 1958 | 66 years and 8 months | 71.67% | 126.67% |
| 1959 | 66 years and 10 months | 70.83% | 125.33% |
| 1960 and later | 67 years | 70.00% | 124.00% |
| Year | First bend point | Second bend point | Wage base |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $1,340 | $8,077 | $192,300 |
| 2026 | $1,286 | $7,749 | $184,500 |
| 2025 | $1,226 | $7,391 | $176,100 |
| 2024 | $1,174 | $7,078 | $168,600 |
Claiming at exactly 62
SSA says you must be at least 62 for the entire month to receive benefits. If your first such month is the one after your birthday, choose 62 years and 1 month.
Frequently asked questions
How is Social Security calculated?
SSA counts each year of earnings up to the wage base and indexes it to the national average wage index. It averages your 35 highest years by month, which gives your average indexed monthly earnings, or AIME. The formula in 42 USC 415 then takes 90% of AIME up to the first bend point, 32% from there to the second and 15% above it, and rounds down to the next 10 cents. That is your primary insurance amount, or PIA, the benefit at full retirement age. For someone who reaches 62 in 2027, the bend points are $1,340 and $8,077, so an AIME of $5,083 gives a PIA of $2,403.70. SSA then adds each cost-of-living adjustment starting with the year you reach 62, which this calculator leaves out, and claiming earlier or later changes the amount.
How much is Social Security reduced if I claim at 62?
It depends on your full retirement age. If you were born in 1960 or later, it is 67, and claiming at 62 pays 70% of your full benefit. If you were born from 1943 to 1954, it is 66, and claiming at 62 pays 75%. Birth years 1955 to 1959 fall in between, from 74.17% down to 70.83%.
How much more do I get if I wait until 70?
Each month you wait past full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%, which is 8% a year. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 70 pays 124% of your full benefit. The increase stops at 70. If you start before 70, SSA adds some of these credits only in the following January. The calculator shows the benefit with all credits applied.
What is the break-even age?
It is the age at which the later start has paid as much in total as the earlier one. The calculator compares your claiming age with claiming at full retirement age and adds up the monthly payments of both. It leaves out cost-of-living adjustments, taxes and anything the money could earn if you invested it. If you live past the break-even age, the later start has paid more.
Does the calculator work out my benefit from my earnings?
Yes, in the From earnings mode. Year by year takes your earnings for each year, applies the wage base, indexes them with SSA's national average wage index and uses the 35 highest years. Average earnings takes a figure you have already indexed and does no indexing itself. The result is a rough figure from the formula. For an estimate based on your own earnings record, which is the one to rely on, sign in to your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.
What if I worked fewer than 35 years?
The missing years count as zero in the average. With $61,000 a year for 25 years instead of 35, and reaching 62 in 2027, AIME falls from $5,083 to $3,630 and the PIA from $2,403.70 to $1,938.80. With more than 35 years, the lowest years drop out. Most workers need 40 quarters of coverage to be insured for retirement benefits, and a year gives four at most. The calculator warns you below 10 years with earnings and does not count quarters.
Do earnings above the wage base count?
No. Each year counts up to that year's wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026 and $192,300 for 2027. Year by year applies the limit for you. For a year after 2027, SSA has not set the limit, so the calculator uses the 2027 figure.
What if I reach 62 after 2027?
SSA has not set the bend points or the wage index for those years. The calculator uses the 2027 bend points and indexes to 2025, which gives a result at today's wage levels. Earnings from 2025 on go in at face value, so enter future years in today's dollars.
Do the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset still apply?
SSA says the Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, ended both, and that they do not apply to benefits payable for January 2024 and later. The calculator applies neither. That comes from SSA's page in the Internet Archive copy of October 26, 2026, last updated July 21, 2025.
What does the earnings mode leave out?
It leaves out cost-of-living adjustments, which SSA adds starting with the year you reach 62. It also leaves out the family maximum, the retirement earnings test, Medicare premiums and tax on benefits. It has no disability or survivor computation, no special minimum benefit and neither of SSA's two other computing methods. It counts every year you list, while SSA starts with the years before your benefits begin and can add later years in a recomputation. It does not say when to claim.
Where do the earnings figures come from?
ssa.gov blocks automated reading, so the tables are Internet Archive copies of SSA's pages: bend points from October 24, 2026, the average wage index through 2025 from October 27, 2026, and the wage base from October 26, 2026. The 2027 figures match SSA's Federal Register notice of October 26, 2026, and the 2026 figures its notice of November 3, 2025. The formula comes from 42 USC 415 and 20 CFR 404.211, read on November 3, 2026. SSA must publish these figures by November 1, so the next set is due by November 1, 2027.
Why is this lower than SSA's figure if I am past 62?
SSA's PIA includes every cost-of-living adjustment since the year you reached 62, and this calculator leaves them out, so past 62 it reads low and the labels say so. Someone born in 1960 with maximum-taxable earnings since 22 sees $3,420.30 here, before COLAs since 2022. SSA's table shows $4,188 at 67 in January 2027 for that worker.
I already receive Social Security. Is this my payment?
No. The calculator estimates a benefit from a formula and knows nothing of your record or your adjustments. Use SSA's figure for what you are paid.
Is this the amount SSA will pay me?
No, it is an estimate before Medicare premiums and taxes. SSA rounds the benefit down to the next 10 cents, takes off any Medicare Part B premium and then pays whole dollars. The calculator stops after the first step. It also leaves out future cost-of-living adjustments. To check the percentage for an exact birth date, use SSA's early or late retirement calculator.
How much is a spousal Social Security benefit?
SSA says it can be as much as half of the worker's benefit at full retirement age, depending on the spouse's age. Starting early reduces it. Starting at 62 can bring it down to 32.5% of the worker's benefit, so a worker's $2,000.00 gives $650.00 a month. With a qualifying child in the spouse's care, a child under 16 or receiving Social Security disability benefits, it is not reduced. The worker must have filed for retirement benefits, and the spouse must be at least 62 or have that child in their care.
What if the spouse has a benefit of their own?
SSA's page says that if the spouse's own retirement benefit is higher than the spousal benefit, it pays the retirement benefit, and otherwise it pays the spousal benefit. Enter your own benefit and the calculator says which is higher. The reduction it uses is the one SSA gives for a spouse with no benefit on their own record. That page does not say how a smaller benefit of your own combines with a spousal benefit, so ask SSA for that figure.
What does the spousal mode rest on?
On one page, SSA's Benefits for Spouses, in the Internet Archive copy of October 24, 2026. That page says it was last reviewed or modified on September 25, 2013. Full retirement age comes from SSA's table by birth year, as in the other mode. Check the result with SSA before you rely on it. The calculator does not say when to start.
Does it cover survivor or disability benefits?
No. It covers the retirement benefit on your own record and the spousal benefit. It has no fields for survivor benefits, divorced spouses, disability benefits or a family maximum.