Social Security Retirement Calculator

Full Retirement Age is the age when you can collect your full Social Security benefit with no reduction. For people born in 1960 or later, FRA is 67.¹ For those born between 1955 and 1959, it is between 66 and 67.¹ The calculator finds your exact FRA based on your date of birth.

Age 62 is the earliest you can claim. If your FRA is 67, claiming at 62 cuts your monthly benefit by about 30%.¹ This reduction is permanent. You will get smaller checks for the rest of your life, but you will receive payments for more years.

For each year you delay past your FRA, your benefit grows by 8%.² If your FRA is 67, waiting until 70 adds 24% on top of your full benefit. Age 70 gives you the highest possible monthly payment. There is no extra credit for waiting past 70.²

AIME stands for Average Indexed Monthly Earnings. It is your average monthly income based on your highest 35 years of work, adjusted for wage growth.⁴ The calculator divides your annual income by 12 to estimate this number.

PIA stands for Primary Insurance Amount. It is the monthly benefit you receive if you claim at exactly your Full Retirement Age. The PIA is calculated by running your AIME through a formula that uses dollar thresholds called bend points.

Bend points are dollar thresholds in the PIA formula. The first portion of your AIME is replaced at 90%, the next portion at 32%, and anything above the second bend point at 15%.³ This design gives lower earners a higher replacement rate than higher earners.

The break-even age is when the total money you collect by waiting equals the total you would have collected by claiming earlier. If you live past the break-even age, waiting gives you more money overall. If you pass away before it, claiming early would have paid more in total.

Yes. If you are married, you may receive up to 50% of your spouse's PIA if that amount is higher than your own benefit.¹ You must be at least 62 years old to claim spousal benefits.⁵ The calculator compares both options and tells you which one is higher.

Yes, if your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you are currently unmarried, and you are at least 62.⁵ You can receive up to 50% of your ex-spouse's PIA.¹ Your ex-spouse does not need to have filed for benefits, and claiming on their record does not reduce their payments.

COLA stands for Cost-of-Living Adjustment. Each year, Social Security may raise your benefit to keep up with rising prices. The calculator uses a default COLA rate of 2.3% based on the long-run historical average. You can change this rate in the Advanced Settings.

It depends on your health, other income, and financial needs. Claiming early gives you money sooner but smaller checks forever. Waiting gives you larger checks but fewer years of payments. Use the break-even analysis in this calculator to see which choice pays more based on how long you expect to live.

Yes. Use the slider in the Explore Your Claiming Age section to instantly see your estimated benefit at any age from 62 to 70. You can also go back to the input section and change your planned claiming age, then click Calculate My Benefits again.

Yes. There is a cap on how much Social Security will pay each month, even if you earned a very high salary. The maximum depends on the year you turn 62 and the age you claim. This calculator estimates your benefit based on your income, so if you earned above the taxable maximum, your actual benefit may differ.

You might. If your total income in retirement is above certain thresholds, up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxed by the federal government.⁶ Some states also tax Social Security. This calculator shows your gross benefit before any taxes.

If you have no work history of your own, you may still qualify for spousal benefits based on your current or former spouse's record. Enter $0 as your income and fill in your spouse's details. The calculator will show whether the spousal benefit applies to you.