The average retiree collects nearly $2,000 in retirement benefits each month from Social Security. That's a nice supplement to anyone's retirement savings.
But a select handful of retirees will receive $5,108 each month this year, and they'll get an even bigger check in the future thanks to the program's annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. That's the maximum retirement benefit for 2025, and each of those beneficiaries followed the same exact steps to become eligible for that big paycheck.
If you want to collect the max monthly Social Security check in retirement, you can follow their lead with these three steps.
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1. Establish a career with high earnings potential and longevity
Most people know their Social Security retirement benefit is based on how much they earn during their career. But not everyone knows the details. The first detail you should know is that the government calculates your benefit based on your average earnings from the 35 highest-earning years from your career. That means if you want to max out Social Security, you'll have to work at least 35 years.
The second detail is that there's an upper earnings limit that goes into that calculation. Every year, the Social Security Administration establishes a contribution maximum, which is the maximum amount of wages subject to Social Security payroll taxes. Any earnings above that level don't incur the 12.4% Social Security tax, but they also won't count toward the calculation for your average earnings.
The SSA will adjust the contribution maximum for increases in the standard of living each year. For 2025, the max is $176,100. That's the number you want to aim to reach in your salary negotiations, and you'll want to ensure annual raises that keep you above the SSA's annual adjustments.
2. Work until at least age 69
There's a small quirk in the way the government calculates your Social Security retirement benefit. All your past earnings get adjusted for inflation before the government calculates your benefit. However, that inflation adjustment is tied to an index from the year you reach age 60. Any earnings after that don't get any inflation adjustment.
This butts heads with the fact that Social Security earnings are capped each year. And, as mentioned, the cap will increase each year. So, the potential maximum earnings in your 60s are typically higher than the inflation-adjusted earnings maximum from before you reach age 60.
Therefore, if you want to receive the maximum possible Social Security benefit, you'll have to work at least until the year before you start collecting Social Security (and be sure to earn enough to maximize Social Security earnings that year, even if you don't work the full year).
Importantly, you can continue to increase your monthly benefit each year while collecting Social Security if you earn enough. So, if you want to continue receiving your maximum possible Social Security benefit each year, you'll have to continue working indefinitely.
3. Collect Social Security benefits at age 70
The Social Security Administration makes adjustments to your monthly benefits check depending on when you apply. The earlier you apply, the smaller your monthly check. The later you apply, the bigger your check. However, the government stops increasing the value of your check (besides the annual COLA) once you reach age 70.
If you want to collect the maximum possible benefit, you must wait until 70 to collect benefits, and not a moment longer.
There's another quirk in the Social Security benefits formula, which ensures that the retirees receiving the maximum possible benefit in one year, probably won't receive the maximum the next year. That's due to something called bend points in the Social Security benefit formula, which will stay the same for each individual, but change depending on the year you were born. The adjustments generally favor younger people.
That is to say, next year's group of 70-year-olds who followed the first two steps above will receive bigger monthly benefits checks versus their soon-to-be 71-year-old counterparts. So, if you want the maximum possible Social Security benefit, you'll only have a small window to claim it when you're 70 years old, even if you checked off the first two steps above.
