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Social Security Benefits Estimator (2026)
How much Social Security will you get? Enter your birth year and career earnings to estimate your monthly benefit at 62, your full retirement age, and 70 — using the official 2026 SSA bend points and adjustment factors.
Estimate Your Monthly Benefit
Determines your full retirement age (1960 or later: 67).
Your career-average wages covered by Social Security (before taxes).
SSA averages your highest 35 years. Fewer than 35 years means zeros fill the gaps.
Bend points lock in the year you turn 62. Pick the year you turn (or turned) 62.
Your full retirement age (FRA)
Estimated AIME
Primary Insurance Amount (PIA)
Monthly benefit at 62
Monthly benefit at FRA
Monthly benefit at 70
Benefit by claim age
| Claim age | Monthly | Annual | vs. PIA |
|---|
Estimate only. Assumes your average held steady for your whole career (SSA indexes each year’s earnings to wage growth), uses 2026 bend points, and ignores spousal benefits, the earnings test, taxes, and Medicare premiums. Confirm your real number in your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.
How Your Social Security Benefit Is Calculated
SSA builds your benefit in three steps, all locked to official 2026 figures:
- Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME). SSA indexes each year of your earnings to national wage growth, takes your 35 highest years, and divides by 420 months. This calculator simplifies: AIME = average annual earnings × (years, capped at 35) ÷ 35 ÷ 12.
- Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). Your AIME runs through the 2026 bend-point formula: 90% of the first $1,286, 32% of AIME from $1,286 to $7,749, and 15% of AIME above $7,749, rounded down to the nearest ten cents. The formula is deliberately progressive — lower earners get a bigger share of their wages replaced.
- Claiming-age adjustment. Claim before your full retirement age and the benefit shrinks: 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months early, then 5/12 of 1% per month after that. Wait past FRA and it grows: 2/3 of 1% per month (8% per year) in delayed retirement credits, up to age 70. The adjustment is permanent.
AIME = avg annual earnings × min(years, 35) ÷ 35 ÷ 12
PIA = 90% × first $1,286 + 32% × ($1,286–$7,749) + 15% × above $7,749
Early: −5/9%/mo for first 36 mo, −5/12%/mo beyond | Late: +2/3%/mo up to age 70
PIA = 90% × first $1,286 + 32% × ($1,286–$7,749) + 15% × above $7,749
Early: −5/9%/mo for first 36 mo, −5/12%/mo beyond | Late: +2/3%/mo up to age 70
Worked Example: AIME of $6,000, FRA 67
A worker with an AIME of $6,000 (about $72,000 a year for 35 years) and a full retirement age of 67:
| Claim age | Adjustment | Monthly benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | −30% (60 months early) | $1,866.06 |
| 63 | −25% (48 months early) | $1,999.35 |
| 64 | −20% (36 months early) | $2,132.64 |
| 65 | −13.33% (24 months early) | $2,310.36 |
| 66 | −6.67% (12 months early) | $2,488.08 |
| 67 (FRA) | 0% — full PIA | $2,665.80 |
| 68 | +8% (1 year late) | $2,879.06 |
| 69 | +16% (2 years late) | $3,092.33 |
| 70 | +24% (3 years late) | $3,305.59 |
PIA math: 90% × $1,286 = $1,157.40, plus 32% × ($6,000 − $1,286) = $1,508.48, for $2,665.88 → $2,665.80 after the dime-rounding rule. Claiming at 62 keeps 70% of PIA; waiting to 70 pays 124%.
Key 2026 Social Security Figures
- Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA): 2.8%, applied to benefits starting January 2026.
- Taxable wage base: $184,500 — the 6.2% Social Security tax applies only up to this amount (max employee tax $11,439). Medicare tax has no cap.
- Earnings test: if you work before FRA, $1 in benefits is withheld for every $2 earned above $24,480 (or $1 per $3 above $65,160 in the year you reach FRA). After FRA, no limit.
- Full retirement age: 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later (born 1959: 66 and 10 months; 1958: 66 and 8 months; 1957: 66 and 6 months; 1956: 66 and 4 months; 1955: 66 and 2 months; 1954 or earlier: 66).
- Maximum 2026 monthly benefit for a maximum earner: about $2,969 at 62, $4,152 at FRA, and $5,181 at 70.
Frequently Asked Questions
SSA indexes your 35 highest-earning years to wage growth, averages them into an AIME, then applies the bend-point formula: 90% of the first $1,286 of AIME, 32% of the next slice up to $7,749, and 15% above that (2026 figures). The result is your PIA — the monthly amount you get at full retirement age. Claiming earlier or later adjusts it permanently.
If you were born in 1960 or later, it is 67. It phases down for earlier birth years: 66 and 10 months (1959), 66 and 8 months (1958), 66 and 6 months (1957), 66 and 4 months (1956), 66 and 2 months (1955), and 66 for 1954 or earlier. Claiming at exactly FRA pays 100% of your PIA.
With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 means 60 months early: 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months (20%) plus 5/12 of 1% for the remaining 24 months (10%) — a permanent 30% reduction, so you keep 70% of your PIA. Waiting to 70 instead earns 8% per year in delayed credits, for 124% of PIA.
The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment is 2.8%, raising all benefits starting with January 2026 payments. The 2026 taxable wage base is $184,500 — the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax stops above that amount, capping the employee tax at $11,439 for the year.
Only before full retirement age. In 2026, $1 of benefits is withheld for every $2 you earn above $24,480 ($1 per $3 above $65,160 in the year you reach FRA). Once you reach FRA there is no earnings limit. Withheld benefits are not truly lost — SSA recalculates your payment upward at FRA to credit the withheld months.
This calculator uses a simplified career average instead of your actual year-by-year indexed earnings record, assumes no spousal or survivor benefits, and does not model the earnings test, taxes, or Medicare Part B premiums deducted from checks. Your exact benefit is in your my Social Security statement at ssa.gov — use this tool for planning, not as an official figure.
Disclaimer: Estimates only — not financial or Social Security advice. Figures per SSA’s 2026 COLA announcement (2.8% COLA, $184,500 wage base, $1,286/$7,749 bend points). Verify with SSA or ssa.gov’s official calculators.