One of the biggest factors impacting your monthly Social Security benefit is when you decide to apply for benefits.
Most people become eligible for retirement benefits starting at age 62. But claiming as soon as possible will result in a much smaller monthly check than if you wait. That's why many retirees wait until they reach their full retirement age, between the ages of 66 and 67 for most Americans. But that title is a bit of a misnomer because you can get an even bigger monthly benefit by waiting until age 70 to file.
The discrepancy between how much you can receive from Social Security at each age is amplified when you look at the maximum possible benefit. And if you aim to truly maximize your Social Security benefits for yourself and your family, there's a clear winner for which age is best for most people.
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What it takes to maximize your Social Security benefits
When the Social Security Administration goes to calculate your monthly retirement benefit, it first looks at your entire earnings history, starting from the first year you started working and filed income taxes. After adjusting each year's earnings for inflation, it selects the 35 highest-earning years and plugs them into the Social Security benefits formula.
The formula will have some slight variations depending on what year you were born. The year you were born will also determine your full retirement age. Anyone born between 1943 and 1954 reached full retirement age at 66. It then 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.
Your full retirement age is important because that's when you'll receive the primary insurance amount calculated by the Social Security benefits formula. If you claim before you reach the required age, you'll receive a smaller monthly benefit. If you wait, you'll receive an increase in benefits for each month you delay up until age 70.
There's one more detail to know about how your benefit gets calculated, though. If you're a high earner, the Social Security Administration might not count every dollar you earned during your career when calculating your benefit. That's because it caps the amount of earnings subject to Social Security taxes each year. If you don't pay Social Security taxes on the income, it won't count toward your earnings for calculating your benefit.
Here's the last 50 years of the maximum taxable earnings for Social Security.
| 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.
Note the maximum earnings subject to Social Security taxes increases every year with the rise in the standard of living and inflation. As a result, you'll have to ensure your salary keeps up with the rising wage inflation over time. But if you can earn above the threshold for at least 35 years, you'll put yourself in line for a maximum or near-maximum possible Social Security benefit.
Here's the maximum possible benefit at 62, 66, 67, and 70
Even if you max out your taxable earnings throughout your career for Social Security, there's still a huge gap in the monthly benefit you can receive at 62 versus waiting until age 70. While claiming at 62 will allow you to collect benefits for longer, waiting until age 70 ensures you receive the biggest possible monthly benefit. Splitting the difference at full retirement age can be a good compromise for some.
Here's what the maximum possible benefit looks like for each of those ages in 2025.
| Retirement Age | 62 | 66 | 67 | 70 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum monthly benefit | $2,831 | $3,795 | $4,043 | $5,108 |
Data source: Social Security Administration.
The differences between the ages are substantial. A 62-year-old and a 70-year-old who each earned similar amounts throughout their careers can receive significantly different amounts of Social Security each month if they claim at the same time. As you can see, the 70-year-old's max benefit is about 80% higher than their 62-year-old counterpart's.
Should you wait to claim benefits?
If you're in line for the maximum possible Social Security benefit, you may be wondering if it makes sense to delay Social Security to increase the size of your monthly check. In fact, high earners stand to benefit the most from waiting as long as possible before claiming their benefits.
If you were fortunate enough to have a high-paying career, hopefully you've also set aside some of your earnings in personal retirement accounts. If so, you won't be entirely reliant on Social Security for income in retirement, so waiting to claim your benefits can help protect your wealth later in life.
If you were the main breadwinner in your household, you also need to consider survivor benefits. If you pass away before your spouse, they're eligible to collect the same amount you were receiving from Social Security before your passing. As such, it's important to consider your spouse's life expectancy as well as your own when determining the best age to claim benefits. Delaying until age 70 is usually the best option for maximizing total benefits paid.
Even if you haven't earned enough to receive the maximum possible benefit from Social Security, it often makes sense to wait until age 70. As long as you can afford to delay your benefits, it will usually pay off with a more secure retirement.
