How Much Social Security Will I Get?
Last reviewed: September 2026
Your retirement benefit comes out of two things: what you earned over your working life, and how old you are when you claim.
The short answer
Social Security averages your highest 35 years of earnings, indexes them for wage growth, and runs the result through a fixed formula to get your benefit at full retirement age. Claiming earlier permanently reduces that amount; claiming later permanently increases it, up to age 70.
What your earnings record does
The calculation looks at your 35 highest-earning years, after adjusting older years for wage growth. If you worked fewer than 35 years, the missing years count as zero, which pulls the average down. Years above the taxable maximum - $184,500 in 2026 - do not count beyond that ceiling, because earnings above it are not taxed for Social Security.
This is why a single high-earning year rarely moves the number much, and why a long gap can.
Full retirement age
Full retirement age is the age at which you receive 100% of the benefit your record supports. It depends on the year you were born, and for people retiring now it is 67. It is not the same as 65, which is when Medicare eligibility usually begins, and it is not the same as 62, which is the earliest most people can claim.
Claiming early or late
Claiming before full retirement age reduces the monthly amount permanently - not until you reach full retirement age, but for life. Claiming after full retirement age increases it, by a delayed retirement credit that accrues until age 70. There is no further increase after 70, so delaying past that point gains nothing.
Neither choice is right in the abstract. The reduction is permanent, but so is starting later and collecting for fewer years.
Working while claiming
If you claim before full retirement age and keep earning, the retirement earnings test withholds part of your benefit: $1 for every $2 above $24,480 in 2026. In the year you reach full retirement age the limit rises to $65,160 and the withholding falls to $1 for every $3. From the month you reach full retirement age it stops entirely, and your benefit is recalculated to credit what was withheld.
What our calculator works out
Our calculator applies the published benefit formula to the earnings figure and claiming age you enter, and shows what the same record would produce at other claiming ages. It is an educational estimate from the information you type in.
What this does not tell you
This is not an official Social Security benefit determination. Only the Social Security Administration can make one, and it does so from your actual earnings record, which we do not have.
An estimate here cannot account for a record with unusual gaps, work not covered by Social Security, benefits based on a spouse's record, or the windfall and offset provisions that affect some public-sector workers. For a figure drawn from your own record, use your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.
Official sources
- Social Security Administration - Retirement benefits
- Social Security Administration - Receiving benefits while working
- Social Security Administration - 2026 COLA fact sheet
- Social Security Administration - my Social Security account
What you can do next
Compare what your record produces at several claiming ages before you decide. If you are married, look at the spousal and survivor calculators too: a claiming decision made alone can reduce what a surviving spouse receives later.
Related calculators
More in Benefits & Updates
BenefitCalculators.com is an independent educational site. It is not a government agency, and nothing here is a decision about your benefits.