The year 1964 was momentous. It's the year that the youngest baby boomers were born, for one thing. (The oldest were born in 1946.) Other events: President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Ford Mustang was launched, the Beatles debuted in the U.S. on The Ed Sullivan Show, and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb opened in theaters across the country.
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That was roughly 60 years ago, and a lot has changed since then. Prices, for example. In 1964, you could buy a house for $13,000, and a gallon of gas cost $0.25, per Reference.com. Median annual household income at the time was $6,569.
How about Social Security? Well, check out the table below, showing how average benefits have changed over time:
|
Year |
Average Monthly Social Security Benefit for Retirees |
|---|---|
|
1964 |
$78 |
|
1974 |
$188 |
|
1984 |
$461 |
|
1994 |
$697 |
|
2004 |
$955 |
|
2014 |
$1,329 |
|
2024 |
$1,925* |
Source: Social Security Administration, 2023 Annual Statistical Supplement.
*As of November, 2024.
Quite a change, eh? That's because Social Security features a crucial element: nearly annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). You'll note that despite this, Social Security benefits don't allow anyone to live like royalty. That $78 per month in 1964 amounted to just $936 over the course of a year. The more recent average monthly benefit of $1,925 amounts to just $23,000, roughly.
This information can help you in your retirement planning, and it should inspire you to develop other income streams for your golden years. Also, there are ways to increase your Social Security benefits if you haven't claimed them yet. And one of the best moves for most people is to wait until age 70 to claim. The longer you delay, until age 70, the bigger those benefits become.
