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Medicare and Senior Benefits

Average Social Security Benefits from Age 62 Through 80

Digilifetrends Published 3 min read

Social Security is an important foundation for retirement income, but it is designed to supplement your savings and other income rather than fully replace your paycheck. One of the biggest factors affecting what you receive is the age at which you claim benefits, making it a major financial decision.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) bases benefits on your average earnings from your 35 highest-paid years, adjusted for inflation and processed through a formula. Your monthly payment is then influenced by your full retirement age (FRA) and the age you start collecting.

Close-up of overlapping U.S. Social Security cards
Image source: Getty Images.

Average monthly retired-worker benefits from ages 62 to 80

The table below shows the average monthly retired-worker benefit by age, using the latest available data.

AgeOverallMenWomen
62$1,424.40$1,572.83$1,285.50
63$1,435.81$1,580.81$1,300.20
64$1,478.00$1,624.93$1,342.07
65$1,607.27$1,772.00$1,457.40
66$1,807.28$1,998.75$1,629.09
67$2,016.48$2,234.41$1,801.82
68$2,052.64$2,272.40$1,836.58
69$2,096.95$2,321.96$1,876.96
70$2,274.68$2,529.62$2,024.08
71$2,247.76$2,494.57$2,006.83
72$2,205.21$2,432.49$1,981.87
73$2,207.96$2,437.40$1,983.67
74$2,178.87$2,401.64$1,962.42
75$2,144.88$2,358.96$1,937.42
76$2,157.21$2,373.40$1,949.26
77$2,170.80$2,391.89$1,959.06
78$2,140.16$2,352.82$1,936.04
79$2,155.77$2,374.04$1,947.29
80$2,106.29$2,309.85$1,912.67

Why your claiming age matters so much

The numbers show a sharp rise between ages 62 and 70, with the average benefit increasing by 59.7%. That difference works out to $850.28 a month, or $10,203.36 a year.

Your FRA depends on your birth year and falls between 66 and 67; for anyone born in 1960 or later, it is 67. Claiming at 62 can reduce your benefit by as much as 30%, while delaying until 70 adds 8% per year through delayed retirement credits.

After age 70, the averages begin to edge lower. That does not mean the SSA reduces individual benefits. It likely reflects the fact that older age groups include more people who claimed early and locked in permanent reductions.

Women also represent a larger share of the oldest groups because they generally live longer. Since they often had lower lifetime earnings because of the gender pay gap and time spent caregiving, their presence pushes down the overall average among the oldest retirees.

Even the age-70 peak of $2,274.68 per month, or $27,296.16 per year, does not come close to covering everything. That amount is still $34,135.84 below the $61,432 in average annual senior household spending reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

A 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is set to take effect in 2027, which would add roughly $82 a month to that age-70 benefit. These increases are meant to help offset inflation, but they often do not fully keep up.

For planning purposes, the most useful figure is the average tied to the age at which you expect to claim.

Social Security alone probably won't cover retirement expenses

Even people who wait until 70 to claim and receive the largest possible checks usually cannot rely on Social Security alone for a comfortable retirement. Most will need additional income sources to make up the difference.

If you have personal savings, they can be one of the best tools available. You can use them however you choose, but they may need to last 20 years or longer, so it is wise to follow a withdrawal strategy that helps preserve them. If your savings are limited, you may need part-time work or other government benefits to supplement your Social Security income.

Before filing, it is important to have a plan for covering the rest of your living costs. Married couples should also consider a spouse's Social Security benefits and savings, and make sure both partners agree on when each person will claim.

For more on how Social Security affects retirement planning, see this guide.

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