Retirement benefits are the main source of income for many retirees, and although many find them insufficient to make ends meet, there is some comfort in them being so predictable. For retirees, knowing when and exactly how much they will get from Social Security in their bank accounts every month can be a relief.
Now, that does not mean that benefits do not ever change, even though they are called fixed income because there is no way to increase the base payment once it has been set, there is an annual cost of living adjustment that happens in January that dictates the maximum amount in benefits retirees can get throughout the year.
In 2025, the maximum amount that you can get in total from Social Security is $5,108, but to get this benefit you will have needed to fulfill a lot of conditions to perfection and have delayed retirement until age 70. The maximum benefit you can get is very dependent on at what age you decide to start collecting benefits. That means that if you retire at full retirement age in 2025, your maximum benefit would be $4,018. However, if you retire at age 62 in 2025, your maximum benefit would be $2,831.
How to get the maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit
As we have said, in order to get the maximum benefit you will need to follow very strict rules and do so for a very long time, as the conditions are quite strict. The closest you can get to meeting all these requirements, the more money you will get up until the cap. That cap is there because Social Security is not an infinitely scalable program and as such it needs to set a limit both in contributions and distributions, but that will come later.
The first thing you need to do to get the maximum payment is to have worked for at least 35 years, which is the number of years that the Social Security Administration takes into account when calculating benefits. If you work more, your higher earning years will be the ones taken into account, and if you work less, zeros will be added to the equation for every year you are short, so, in this case working a couple of more years pays off as long as you are healthy and earning a decent amount that can replace some lower earning years from the start of your career.
The second thing you need to do is earn at or above the maximum taxable income for Social Security. As we have explained, the program is not infinitely scalable, which is why the Social Security taxed income is capped. The cap rises every year to keep up with average wages, and in 2025 the amount is $176,100. Anything over that will not be taxed for Social Security purposes, but will be subject to other taxes, such as Medicare Tax, as you must pay Medicare Tax on all your earnings.
The third thing you need to do is wait until age 70 to claim your benefits. This is the most important part if you want to increase your payment without much effort, as it does not mean that you must work until age 70, just refrain from collecting your Social Security checks. Full retirement age, which is between 66 and 67 years old depending on your birth year is when you can get 100% of your retirement benefits, but if you wait three to four years, you will be able to collect an 8% per year, which will put you at 124% at age 70. There are no benefits to waiting past this age to collect Social Security.
