Social Security recently announced a slew of automated changes for 2026, including the highly anticipated annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. Current beneficiaries will see their monthly payments increase 2.8% starting in January.
But the COLA can have an impact on your future benefits even if you haven't started Social Security. Anyone over age 62 at the end of 2025 will see a bump in their benefits or potential benefits whether they've already applied to receive payments or not. And that fact will impact the maximum possible benefit retirees can receive at some of the most popular ages to claim Social Security: 62, 67, and 70.
Here's the maximum possible benefit for each age in 2026 and what it takes to receive it.
Image source: Getty Images.
How the government calculates your Social Security benefit
Before diving into the maximum possible benefit for each age group, it's important to understand how the government calculates your Social Security benefit. Only three factors impact your benefit.
- The year you were born
- The month you start Social Security
- Your earnings history
The year you were born will determine a few important things. At the top of the list is your full retirement age, or the age you receive your full benefits. Those born before 1954 reached full retirement age at 66 or earlier. But the age increases by two months for each year you were born after 1954 before maxing out at age 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. That means those born in 1959 won't reach full retirement age until 66 and 10 months, and those born in 1960 all have to wait until 2027 to claim their full benefits.
The year you were born will also impact the exact formula used to calculate your full Social Security benefits. The "bend points" in the formula change slightly depending on what year you were born because of changes in the wage index during your career.
No matter when you were born, though, you can start benefits as early as age 62. However, you'll see a reduction in your benefits relative to your primary insurance amount if you claim before your full retirement age. You can also receive an increase in benefits for each month you delay your application up until age 70. Note, that means retirees with an earlier full retirement age can receive a bigger boost in benefits than those born more recently by waiting until 70 to start Social Security.
The biggest factor in your control, though, is your earnings history. The Social Security Administration looks at each year of your earnings and adjusts them for wage inflation tied to the year you turn 60. Any earnings after age 60 don't get an inflation adjustment. It then selects your 35 highest adjusted earning years, takes the average, and plugs it into the Social Security benefits formula.
If your earnings exceed the maximum taxable wages for Social Security, the SSA only counts your wages up to that limit for that year. And if you want the maximum benefit possible in retirement, you'll need to earn at least the maximum taxable wages in most years during your career. Due to the inflation adjustments on the taxable earnings cap, there's a bigger emphasis on earning the max in the latter years of your career. The table below shows the maximum taxable earnings in each of the last 50 years.
| 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 taxable earnings gets adjusted for wage inflation each year. The limit for 2026 has been set at $185,400.
Here's the maximum possible benefit at ages 62, 67, and 70 for 2026
If you work a long, high-paying career, you could be in line for a substantial monthly benefit when you retire. But the difference between retiring as soon as possible at age 62 and waiting until age 70 is still quite notable.
Here's what the maximum benefit possible looks like at each age for 2026.
| Retirement Age | 62* | 67** | 70*** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum monthly benefit | $2,969 | $4,207 | $5,181 |
*62 and 1 months. **67 and 0 months. ***70 and 0 months
Data source: Social Security Administration.
As you can see, there's a huge difference between collecting benefits at age 62 and age 70 for high earners. The retiree who waits to stop working at age 70 before starting Social Security will receive $26,544 per year in additional benefits. That's enough to pay for a couple of nice well-deserved vacations.
It's also worth pointing out that the maximum $5,181 for someone turning 70 in 2026 is not 2.8% higher than the maximum possible $5,108 benefit for someone who reached 70 in 2025. The latter will receive at least $5,251 this year. That reflects the difference in full retirement age for someone born a year earlier. If last year's max beneficiaries continued working in 2025, earning a high salary, they'd see their benefit climb even higher.
Another illustrative difference in the potential benefits for high earners claiming early versus waiting until age 70 is the tale of two 70 year olds. The high earner who stopped working and started collecting Social Security as soon as possible at age 62 in 2018 will receive $2,858 per month next year. If they kept working their high-earning job through this year before claiming benefits next year, they'd receive a monthly payment that's 81% bigger.
Of course, most retirees won't be in line for the maximum possible benefit. Not only does it require you to earn a high salary for most of your career, it also requires you to work right up until you claim Social Security. Most high earners will benefit from retiring earlier but waiting to claim Social Security until much later. That means giving up maximizing your benefit in exchange for an earlier and more relaxing retirement.
