Social Security is a substantial source of income for millions of older adults, and some retirees rely entirely on the benefits.
In fact, around 1 in 5 adults age 50 and older say they have no source of retirement income outside of Social Security, according to a 2023 report from the Nationwide Retirement Institute. If you're going to be depending on your checks to make ends meet, it's a smart idea to maximize them the best you can.
In 2024, the most you can collect from Social Security is a whopping $4,873 per month. While not everyone will be able to achieve those payments, here are the exact steps you'll need to take to get as close as possible.
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Step 1: Work for at least 35 years
You generally only need to have worked and paid Social Security taxes for at least 10 years to qualify for retirement benefits, but your benefit amount is based on your highest-earning 35 years of work.
The Social Security Administration takes an average of your wages over those 35 years, runs it through a complex formula and adjusts for inflation, and the result is your full benefit amount -- or the amount you'll collect by filing at your full retirement age.
To earn the highest possible benefit, you'll need to have worked for at least 35 full years. Otherwise, you'll have zeros added to your earnings average to account for any years you weren't working, which will bring down your benefit.
Step 2: Ensure you've met the maximum taxable earnings limit
In general, the more you earn, the higher your benefit amount will be -- up to a certain limit. This cap is the maximum taxable earnings limit, and it's the highest income subject to Social Security taxes. Any income you earn over that limit is not subject to this tax and will therefore not increase your benefit amount.
The wage cap changes from year to year to account for inflation, but in 2024, it's $168,600 per year. To earn the maximum possible monthly payments, you'll need to have consistently reached this limit throughout your career. For context, if you began your career 35 years ago in 1989, the wage cap back then was $48,000 per year.
Step 3: Delay claiming benefits until age 70
Even if you've worked for at least 35 years while consistently reaching the wage cap, claiming before age 70 will result in smaller payments each month.
The most you can receive by claiming at age 67 is $3,911 per month. At age 62, the maximum possible benefit is just $2,710 per month -- roughly half of the $4,873 payments you'd collect at age 70. If you're looking to truly maximize your benefits, waiting until age 70 to file is key.
What if you can't reach these benchmarks?
The vast majority of workers won't be able to achieve all three of these goals, and that's OK. But that doesn't mean you can't increase your payments at all.
If you can get even a little closer to each of these three steps, that can still boost your payments. For example, maybe you can't wait until age 70 to claim, but you can hold off until age 65 rather than claiming at 62. Those three years of delaying benefits can still increase your payments by hundreds of dollars per month.
Or maybe you can't work 35 years or reach the wage cap, but you can work one or two more years while increasing your income by a couple thousand dollars per year. That, too, will make a difference in the size of your checks.
The maximum benefit may be out of reach for most Americans, but there's still plenty you can do to supercharge your monthly payments. When you know the factors influencing your benefit amount, you can take even small steps to build a more financially secure retirement.
