President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" offers retirees a new tax deduction, but it's also likely to hasten the depletion of Social Security's coffers. Congress can take steps to avoid any trouble, but it's not clear that it will, and if nothing is done, by 2033, retirees might be collecting only about three-quarters of what they're due in Social Security benefits. Yikes!
You might, therefore, want to maximize your Social Security benefits so that whatever fraction of them you might receive in the future will be as big a fraction as possible. For 2025, the maximum monthly benefit is $5,108. Here's a look at how one qualifies for it.
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1. Work for at least 35 years
One of the easiest criteria you'll have to meet is working for at least 35 years. That's because your benefits are based on your earnings (adjusted for inflation) in the 35 years in which you earned the most. So if you worked only 32 years, there will be three zeroes factored into the calculation, and you'll be ineligible for that maximum benefit.
2. Delay claiming your benefits until age 70
The next criterion is doable, but not for everyone, and even if you can do it, you might not want to: Delaying claiming your benefits until age 70.
Here are the rules: You can start collecting your benefits as early as age 62, and you can delay doing so until age 70. Start early, and your checks will be smaller, but you'll get many more of them. Start late, and your benefits get bigger (though you'll collect fewer checks, in total). Much depends on your "full retirement age" (66 or 67, depending on when we were born) -- the age at which you can start receiving your "full" benefits based on your earnings history.
The table below shows the percentage of your full benefits you'll receive depending on when you claim them:
|
Start Collecting at: |
Full retirement age of 66 |
Full retirement age of 67 |
|---|---|---|
|
62 |
75% |
70% |
|
63 |
80% |
75% |
|
64 |
86.7% |
80% |
|
65 |
93.3% |
86.7% |
|
66 |
100% |
93.3% |
|
67 |
108% |
100% |
|
68 |
116% |
108% |
|
69 |
124% |
116% |
|
70 |
132% |
124% |
Source: Social Security Administration.
There are good reasons to claim your benefits early (such as, you really need them as soon as possible!) and good reasons to claim them late (you're still working and enjoying doing so), so there's no best age for everyone.
Still, several studies suggest that most of us will collect more in total benefits if we can delay until age 70. It's not the best move for everyone, though, so be sure to think through the when-should-I-claim-my-benefits question carefully.
If you're aiming for that maximum benefit, though, you will have to delay until age 70. Don't do so just for the maximum benefit, though -- because it's unlikely you'll qualify for it. Read on to see why.
3. Earn the maximum for 35 years
In order to qualify for the maximum Social Security benefit, you'll also have to earn the maximum for each of the 35 years of earnings that are used to calculate your benefits. That doesn't mean earning umpteen kazillion bajillion dollars each year, though.
There's a maximum taxable earnings amount that's updated annually, and for 2025, it's $176,100. Anyone earning more than that in 2025 won't be taxed on income above that threshold. So while someone earning, say, $50,000, will see all of their income taxed for Social Security, someone earning $50 million will only be taxed on their first $176,100. If we all had all of our earnings taxed for Social Security, much of the program's shortfall would be reduced.
Meanwhile, that $176,100 is also the maximum earnings that count for calculating your benefits. It's the minimum you'd need to earn in 2025 to qualify for that maximum benefit. It's up from $168,600 in 2024. You'd need to earn those maximum amounts for 35 years. That's why the maximum benefit is out of reach for most people.
Ways to increase your Social Security benefits
Here's some good news, though: If you're still some years from retiring, there are multiple ways to increase your future Social Security benefits. For example, try to beef up your earnings. The more you earn, the bigger your future benefits will be.
Finally, know that Social Security probably won't provide all the retirement income you'll need or want. The average monthly benefit, as of July, was just $2,007, or about $24,000 for the year.
So, be sure to have a solid retirement plan in place. You'll need to estimate how much income you'll need in retirement and then figure out how you'll get it. One good move is to have multiple income streams for your retirement, too, so that if one ends up underdelivering, you'll still have others.
