(over) SSA.gov Your Retirement Benefit: How It’s Figured

Your Retirement Benefit: How It’s Figured

As you make plans for your retirement, 

you may ask, “How much will I get from 

Social Security?” If you have a personal 

my Social Security account, you can get an 

estimate of your personal retirement benefits 

and see the effects of different retirement 

age scenarios. If you don’t have a personal 

my Social Security account, you can create 

one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount. A personal 

my Social Security account also gives access 

to the online Social Security Statement

(Statement). In the Statement, a bar graph 

shows your retirement benefit estimates for up 

to 9 ages when you may want to start benefits.

Many people wonder how we figure their Social 

Security retirement benefit. We:

• Base Social Security benefits on your lifetime 

earnings.

• Adjust or “index” your actual earnings to 

account for changes in average wages since 

the year the earnings were received.

• Calculate your average indexed monthly 

earnings during the 35 years in which you 

earned the most.

• Apply a formula to these earnings and arrive 

at your basic benefit, or “primary insurance 

amount.”

This is how much you would receive at your full 

retirement age — 65 or older, depending on 

your date of birth.

Even if you aren’t near your full retirement age, 

you can plan for retirement now. If you are 

age 18 or older, you can go online, create a 

personal account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount, 

and review your earnings record to ensure it is 

correct. We compute your benefits based on 

your earnings record.

Factors that can change the amount of 

your retirement benefit

• You choose to get benefits before your full 

retirement age. You can begin to receive 

Social Security benefits as early as age 62, 

but at a reduced rate. We reduce your basic 

benefit by a certain percentage if you retire 

before reaching full retirement age. You can 

find your full retirement age at www.ssa.gov/

benefits/retirement/planner/agereduction.

html.

• You’re eligible for cost-of-living benefit 

increases starting with the year you turn age 

62. This is true even if you don’t get benefits 

until your full retirement age or even age 

70. We add cost-of-living increases to your 

benefits beginning with the year you reach 

62. Benefits are adjusted yearly to reflect 

the increase, if any, in the cost-of-living as 

measured by the Consumer Price Index.

• You delay your retirement past your full 

retirement age. We increase your Social 

Security benefits incrementally each month 

that you delay receiving benefits after your 

full retirement age until you reach age 70.

• You’re a government worker with a pension. 

In certain circumstances, we apply a different 

formula to your average indexed monthly 

earnings. This applies if you also get, or 

are eligible for, a retirement or disability 

pension from work for which you didn’t pay 

Social Security taxes. This work is usually a 

government job or a job in a foreign country. 

To find out how the Windfall Elimination 

Provision (WEP) affects your benefits, go to 

www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/

gpo-wep.html and use the WEP online 

calculator. You can also review the WEP 

fact sheet online or read Windfall Elimination 

Provision (Publication No. 05-10045) to find 

out how we figure your benefit. Or, you can 

contact us and ask for it.
Social Security Administration

Publication No. 05-10070

January 2023 (January 2022 edition may be used)

Your Retirement Benefit: How It’s Figured

Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense

You can find a detailed explanation about how 

we calculate your retirement benefit in the 

Annual Statistical Supplement, Appendix D

at www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/

supplement.

Contacting Us

The most convenient way to do business with 

us is to visit www.ssa.gov to get information 

and use our online services. There are several 

things you can do online: apply for benefits; 

start or complete your request for an original 

or replacement Social Security card; get useful 

information; find publications; and get answers 

to frequently asked questions.

When you open a personal my Social Security

account, you have more capabilities. You can 

review your Statement, verify your earnings, 

and get estimates of future benefits. You can 

also print a benefit verification letter, change 

your direct deposit information, request 

a replacement Medicare card, and get a 

replacement SSA-1099/1042S. Access to your 

personal my Social Security account may be 

limited for users outside the United States.

If you don’t have access to the internet, we 

offer many automated services by telephone, 

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you may not 

need to speak with a representative.

If you need to speak with someone, call us 

toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 or at our TTY 

number, 1-800-325-0778, if you’re deaf or 

hard of hearing. A member of our staff can 

answer your call from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday 

through Friday. We provide free interpreter 

services upon request. For quicker access to 

a representative, try calling early in the day 

(between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time) or 

later in the day. We are less busy later in the 

week (Wednesday to Friday) and later in the 

month.