For most people reading this (those born in 1960 or later), full retirement age for the purpose of Social Security benefits is 67 years old. So, how much does the average person get at age 67?
The short answer is that the average 67-year-old retired worker gets $1,883.50 per month in Social Security benefits. But there's quite a bit to unpack here.
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Looking deeper into the average
First, this is slightly less than the overall average retired worker's benefit of $1,905.31 per month. The reason is that while the overall average includes a mix of people who started collecting their benefit early, on time, and after full retirement age, those who are 67 years old, by definition, cannot be in the latter group. To be clear, this is the average benefit of those who are 67 years old now – not the average of those who started receiving Social Security at that age.
Waiting to take Social Security can result in significantly higher monthly benefits – in fact, if your full retirement age is 67 and you wait until you're 70 to start Social Security, your benefits can be permanently increased by up to 24%.
For context, the average 67-year-old who started collecting Social Security before reaching full retirement age gets just $1,666.70 per month. But the average person who waits until after they've reached full retirement age gets $2,720.35.
Additionally, it's important to mention that there are other types of Social Security in addition to benefits for retired workers. For example, the average spousal benefit for a 67-year-old is $833.43 per month, and the average survivors benefit for a nondisabled widow(er) who is 67 is $1,916.72 per month.
