If you want a big Social Security check, a long and highly compensated career is a major pre-requisite. But even if you earn enough to put yourself in a position to receive the maximum possible benefit, the age at which you decide to apply for retirement benefits can have a huge impact on the ultimate size of your monthly check.
The difference between someone who claims Social Security as soon as possible at age 62 and someone who waits until their benefits max out at age 70 is amplified when you look at the maximum possible benefit. Many retirees opt to claim at their full retirement age, around 67, to strike a balance between the two extremes.
But the differences between the maximum possible 2025 Social Security benefit at 62, 67, and 70 show the value of delaying benefits as long as possible.
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The salary you'll need to qualify for the maximum benefit in 2025
Regardless of the age at which you claim, you'll need to meet a minimum salary threshold across 35 years of your career to qualify for the maximum possible benefit for your age. That's because your Social Security benefit is based on how much you earned throughout your career.
When you apply for Social Security, the government looks at your entire earnings history, adjusting each year's wages for inflation. It selects the 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for inflation, and calculates your average monthly income over those years. It then plugs that number into the Social Security benefits formula.
The result is your primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the amount you'll receive if you start benefits the month you reach your full retirement age. Anyone born between 1943 and 1954 has a full retirement age of 66. The age increases by two months for each year you were born after 1954 until maxing out at age 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. If you claim benefits before your full retirement age, you'll receive less than your PIA. If you delay beyond your full retirement age, you'll receive more.
High earners need to know that not all of their income will count toward their PIA calculation. That's because the Social Security Administration (SSA) puts a cap on the amount of earnings it taxes. Earnings that it doesn't tax don't count toward the calculation. The SSA adjusts the maximum taxable earnings each year for inflation.
If you can earn above the maximum taxable earnings for at least 35 years, you'll put yourself in line for one of the highest possible Social Security benefits checks. Here are the most recent 50 years of the maximum taxable earnings.
| Year | Earnings | Year | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | $15,300 | 2001 | $80,400 |
| 1977 | $16,500 | 2002 | $84,900 |
| 1978 | $17,700 | 2003 | $87,000 |
| 1979 | $22,900 | 2004 | $87,900 |
| 1980 | $25,900 | 2005 | $90,000 |
| 1981 | $29,700 | 2006 | $94,200 |
| 1982 | $32,400 | 2007 | $97,500 |
| 1983 | $35,700 | 2008 | $102,000 |
| 1984 | $37,800 | 2009 | $106,800 |
| 1985 | $39,600 | 2010 | $106,800 |
| 1986 | $42,000 | 2011 | $106,800 |
| 1987 | $43,800 | 2012 | $110,100 |
| 1988 | $45,000 | 2013 | $113,700 |
| 1989 | $48,000 | 2014 | $117,000 |
| 1990 | $51,300 | 2015 | $118,500 |
| 1991 | $53,400 | 2016 | $118,500 |
| 1992 | $55,500 | 2017 | $127,200 |
| 1993 | $57,600 | 2018 | $128,400 |
| 1994 | $60,600 | 2019 | $132,900 |
| 1995 | $61,200 | 2020 | $137,700 |
| 1996 | $62,700 | 2021 | $142,800 |
| 1997 | $65,400 | 2022 | $147,000 |
| 1998 | $68,400 | 2023 | $160,200 |
| 1999 | $72,600 | 2024 | $168,600 |
| 2000 | $76,200 | 2025 | $176,100 |
Data source: Social Security Administration. Chart by author.
Here's the maximum possible 2025 Social Security benefit at 62, 67, and 70
Earning a high salary throughout your career is just one factor that goes into determining the size of your monthly benefit. Your claiming age can have just as big an impact on your monthly benefit as your average earnings.
If you claim as soon as possible at age 62, the Social Security Administration is going to severely reduce your benefit, relative to your PIA. Someone with a full retirement age of 67 will only receive 70% of their PIA if they claim as soon as they're eligible. On the other hand, if you wait until age 70, the SSA will boost your benefits. Those with a full retirement age of 67 will receive 24% more than their PIA by waiting until their benefits max out at age 70.
In 2025, someone turning 70 will have been born in 1955. That makes their full retirement age 66 and 2 months. As a result, they'll get an even bigger boost to their PIA by delaying benefits.
Here's how the maximum monthly benefit looks at 62, 67, and 70 in 2025.
| Retirement Age | 62 | 67 | 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Monthly Benefit | $2,831 | $4,043 | $5,108 |
Data source: Social Security Administration. Chart by author.
Despite earning comparable salaries throughout their careers, the 70-year-old person can receive a monthly benefit 80% higher than their 62-year-old counterpart by virtue of waiting. The total annualized difference between the two benefits is $27,324. That could go a long way in retirement.
Note, the differences in the maximum possible benefit for someone turning 70 and someone turning 62 this year are impacted by changes in the full retirement age. However, that's partially offset by changes in the Social Security benefits formula, based on the year in which you turned 60. All things being equal, someone who turned 62 this year could increase their monthly benefit 77% by waiting until age 70.
Should you wait to claim benefits?
If you earned a high-enough salary throughout your career to put yourself in line for the maximum possible benefit (or close to it), you may want to delay claiming your Social Security. Even if you only saved a modest percentage of your income during your career, you likely reached your 60s with a sizable retirement account balance. You may have a high withdrawal rate for a few years in early retirement, but that will come down once you claim Social Security.
Ultimately, it's a safer bet to delay Social Security and temporarily withdraw more from your investment accounts. That's because Social Security provides a guaranteed inflation-adjusted return for delaying benefits. You can't get that from many other investments, and not at the rate Social Security provides.
It's also worth considering survivor benefits. If you pass away before your spouse, your spouse's survivor benefits will be based in part on the amount you were receiving from Social Security. While it's already likely the average person will live long enough to receive more from Social Security by delaying until age 70, the joint life expectancy of you and your spouse tilts the odds further in favor of delaying.
There are also potential tax benefits by delaying for someone with a lot of retirement assets. The early years of retirement are a prime opportunity to make Roth conversions, which can reduce your required minimum distributions later. You may also be able to realize long-term capital gains at a lower effective tax rate than you could once you start collecting Social Security.
Even if you don't expect to receive the maximum possible Social Security benefit for your age in 2025, you might want to consider waiting until age 70 if you can. Based on life expectancy data, the average person will receive more from Social Security by waiting until age 70, versus claiming at just about any other age. If you reasonably expect to live to an average age (or longer) it pays to delay.
