Social Security provides retirement income to most seniors -- but it provides a lot of money to a lucky few. The highest potential monthly retirement check pays $4,873 per month. That's a pretty generous annual income.
Most people aren't going to get the absolute highest benefit, though, as there are very strict requirements to achieve it. But, despite that, you shouldn't necessarily give up on trying for it. Here's why.
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The maximum monthly Social Security benefit is hard to earn
First things first: The reason maxing out your benefit is so hard is because there are three things involved in doing it:
- You must earn a high income. Specifically, you must earn the wage base limit, or the maximum amount of money subject to Social Security tax. In 2024, that's $168,600. In past and future years, it's the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $168,600. Any income earned above $168,600 isn't counted when calculating your benefit, and this limitation is why there's a maximum in the first place.
- You must earn the highest income possible for 35 years. The Social Security benefits formula gives you a benefit equal to a percentage of your average wage in the 35 years your earnings were the highest. To get the biggest benefit, therefore, you must earn the maximum countable amount for all 35 years that were part of your benefits calculation.
- You must wait to claim Social Security until you are 70. Claiming at 70 allows you to take your standard benefit and add to it by earning delayed retirement credits. Those receiving the $4,873 per month got the highest standard benefit due to their earnings, then waited until 70 to earn the most possible delayed retirement credits to increase the standard benefit as much as they could.
As you can see, it's really hard to do all three of these things. So, the maximum benefit is probably out of reach for most people.
The techniques used to earn the top benefit can help increase your own retirement checks
Now, even if you can't do all those steps mentioned above, you shouldn't give up on striving for the maximum benefit, or as close to it as possible.
Working toward maxing out your Social Security is worth doing for a very simple reason. The steps you need to take to try to earn a $4,873 per month payment will help you to increase whatever your personal benefit amount is, even if you don't get the largest available monthly payment in the end.
For example,
- You can aim to increase your own income. You may fall short of the wage base limit, and that's OK. Increasing your earnings even a little still leads to a bigger benefit. Try to take steps like undergoing job training to earn more money over time so your average wages are higher by the time you're ready to get Social Security.
- You can make sure you have the best possible 35-year work history. You don't have to work for 35 years and call it quits. If you increase your income over time, you can work longer later in life at your higher salary. If you do, these higher earning years will be counted in the 35 years that determine your benefits. Lower-earning earlier work years will be replaced and won't drag down your average wage.
- You can put off your Social Security benefits claim. If you're able to wait to claim Social Security until you hit your 70th birthday or get as close to that as possible, you'll boost your benefit for each month of delay. Most people end up with both more monthly and more lifetime benefits using this approach.
So, don't get discouraged if you can't get a Social Security check worth $4,873 a month. Just focus on the things in your control and do all you can to optimize your benefit. It will be worthwhile when you have more security as a retiree.
