Whether you’re reading this out of mere curiosity or a deep desire to learn more about Social Security, reviewing the average retirement benefit at different ages can be helpful. It not only provides workers with a sense of their future Social Security income, but also highlights patterns that are useful in explaining how retired-worker benefits are calculated.
Read on to learn more.
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The average Social Security benefit for men and women at ages 62, 66, and 70
The Social Security Administration publishes anonymized beneficiary data throughout the year. The chart below pulls information from a recently updated biannual report. It shows the average Social Security benefit for retired men and women aged 62 to 70 as of December 2023. The chart also shows the average retired-worker benefit for both sexes combined.
|
Age |
Average Benefit (Men) |
Average Benefit (Women) |
Average Benefit (Total) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
62 |
$1,439 |
$1,167 |
$1,298 |
|
63 |
$1,481 |
$1,207 |
$1,339 |
|
64 |
$1,618 |
$1,314 |
$1,460 |
|
65 |
$1,733 |
$1,410 |
$1,563 |
|
66 |
$1,936 |
$1,553 |
$1,740 |
|
67 |
$2,093 |
$1,676 |
$1,884 |
|
68 |
$2,167 |
$1,733 |
$1,948 |
|
69 |
$2,161 |
$1,733 |
$1,945 |
|
70 |
$2,257 |
$1,816 |
$2,037 |
Data source: The Social Security Administration. Note: Payment amounts have been rounded to the nearest dollar.
Readers should pay attention to three age groups in particular: 62 is the earliest possible claiming age, 70 is the latest sensible claiming age, and 66 provides a data point in the middle. Within those groups, I want to highlight two important patterns.
- First, the average benefit for retired men is larger than the average benefit for retired women at every age shown in the chart. That pattern can be explained by differences in work history and lifetime income.
- Second, the average Social Security benefit for retired men and women is smallest at age 62, largest at age 70, and somewhere in the middle at age 66. That pattern can be explained by discrepancies in claiming age.
Understanding those patterns can help workers make better financial decisions with respect to Social Security.
How work history, lifetime income, and claiming age affect Social Security benefits
The Social Security benefit paid to a retired worker depends on their work history, lifetime income, and claiming age. The first two variables are used to calculate the primary insurance amount (PIA), and the last variable is used to adjust the PIA for early or delayed retirement, as discussed in the two-step process below.
- Step 1: Income from the 35 highest-paid years of work is run through the benefits formula to determine the PIA. The PIA is the benefit a retired worker would receive if they claimed Social Security at full retirement age (FRA), which is age 67 for individuals born in 1960 or later.
- Step 2: Workers who claim Social Security before FRA receive a smaller benefit, meaning they get less than 100% of their PIA. But workers who claim Social Security after FRA receive a larger benefit, meaning they get more than 100% of their PIA.
There are two important qualifications. First, eligibility for retirement benefits begins at age 62, so it is not possible to claim any earlier. Second, delayed retirement credits stop accruing at age 70, so it never makes sense to claim any later.
With that in mind, we can now make sense of the two patterns noted in the previous section. First, the average benefit for retired men is higher than the average benefit for retired women at every age. That pattern is because 1) women are generally paid less than men, and 2) women are more likely to take time away from paid work, often due to the birth of a child. Lower lifetime income and shorter work histories contribute to smaller Social Security benefits.
Second, the average Social Security benefit is smallest at age 62, largest at age 70, and somewhere in the middle at age 66. That pattern is because 1) workers who claim Social Security at age 62 receive the largest possible benefit reduction, and 2) workers who claim Social Security at age 70 accumulate the maximum amount of delayed retirement credits. For instance, a worker born in 1960 or later would receive 70% of their PIA if they claimed Social Security at age 62, but they would receive 124% of their PIA if they delayed Social Security until age 70.
Here’s the bottom line: Workers can do three things to increase their future Social Security benefit. First, they can stay in the workforce for at least 35 years. A shorter work history means zeros are included in the benefits formula, which leads to a smaller PIA. Second, they can maximize their earnings during their time in the workforce. And third, they can delay claiming Social Security until age 70.