How accurate is this Social Security calculator?

It depends on which mode you use. The Detailed Estimate applies the published Social Security methodology to the actual Social Security-taxed earnings you enter from your earnings record, so it can be close to an official estimate. The Quick Estimate reconstructs a plausible earnings history from a few assumptions, so it should be treated as a rough range rather than a precise figure. In both cases, future earnings, future wage growth and future cost-of-living adjustments are not yet known, so results for anyone not already receiving benefits are estimates.

What are my highest 35 years?

Social Security wage-indexes your annual Social Security-covered earnings, sorts every year from highest to lowest, and uses the top 35. Those 35 indexed years are added together and divided by 420 months to produce your average indexed monthly earnings.

What happens if I worked fewer than 35 years?

The formula still uses 35 years. Any missing years enter the calculation as zeros, which lowers your career average and therefore your benefit. This is why an additional year of covered work can meaningfully increase the benefit of someone with fewer than 35 earnings years.

Does Social Security use my last five years of income?

No. That is a common misconception, and it comes from how some pensions work. Social Security uses the highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings across your entire career, not your final years.

Does Social Security use my gross income?

No. It uses Social Security-covered earnings, and only up to the annual contribution and benefit base. For 2026 that maximum is $184,500. Earnings above the cap in a given year are not taxed for Social Security and are not credited toward your benefit.

AIME stands for average indexed monthly earnings. It is the sum of your highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings divided by 420 months, then truncated down to the next lower whole dollar. It is the input to the benefit formula.

PIA stands for primary insurance amount. It is the monthly benefit you would receive if you claimed exactly at your Full Retirement Age, before any early-claiming reduction or delayed retirement credits. Cost-of-living adjustments can increase your PIA after you turn 62, even if you have not claimed.

What are Social Security bend points?

Bend points are the dollar thresholds that separate the tiers of the benefit formula. Your PIA equals 90 percent of average indexed monthly earnings up to the first bend point, 32 percent of the portion between the first and second bend points, and 15 percent above the second. For workers becoming eligible in 2026, the bend points are $1,286 and $7,749. The bend points that apply to you are set by the year you reach 62, not the year you claim.

What is Full Retirement Age?

Full Retirement Age is the age at which you can receive 100 percent of your primary insurance amount. It is 66 for people born between 1943 and 1954, rises in two-month steps for people born from 1955 through 1959, and is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.

What happens if I claim at 62?

Your monthly benefit is permanently reduced. The reduction is five ninths of one percent for each of the first 36 months before Full Retirement Age and five twelfths of one percent for each additional month. Someone with a Full Retirement Age of 67 who claims at 62 receives 70 percent of their primary insurance amount.

What happens if I wait until 70?

Delayed retirement credits of two thirds of one percent per month accrue between Full Retirement Age and age 70, roughly 8 percent per year. With a Full Retirement Age of 67 that produces about 124 percent of the primary insurance amount at 70. No additional credits accrue after age 70.

Can working longer increase my benefit?

Sometimes. It increases your benefit only if the new year of earnings is higher, after wage indexing, than one of the 35 years currently in your calculation. If your current earnings are lower than every year already counted, another year of work will not raise your benefit.

Can my spouse receive benefits?

A spouse may be eligible for a benefit based on your record, and survivor benefits may apply after a death. Those benefits follow their own rules and are not calculated here.

Is Social Security taxable?

It can be. Depending on your combined income, a portion of your Social Security benefits may be subject to federal income tax. Some states also tax benefits. This is one reason Social Security is best coordinated with the rest of your retirement income rather than considered in isolation.

Does this calculator include spousal or survivor benefits?

Not currently. This calculator estimates a worker's own retirement benefit. Spousal, divorced-spouse, survivor, disability, child and other benefits involve additional rules.

Social Security Estimator

Social Security Benefits Calculator

Estimate how much you could receive from Social Security in retirement. Your benefit isn't based only on what you earn today: Social Security looks at your earnings history, wage-indexes earlier years, selects your highest 35 years, applies a progressive benefit formula, and then adjusts the monthly amount based on whether you claim at 62, at your Full Retirement Age, or at 70.

Estimate My Benefit

Free • No account required • Takes about 3 minutes

Based on Social Security Administration methodology

Estimates are educational and are not provided by or affiliated with the Social Security Administration.

About You
Earnings
Retirement
Your Estimate

About you

Your date of birth determines your eligibility year, Full Retirement Age and which benefit formula applies to you.

Date of birth

SSA rules last verified: 2026-08-10

The methodology

How Social Security actually calculates your benefit

Seven steps, applied in the same order every time. Tap any step to see what happens inside it.

Step 1Earnings history

Every year of Social Security-covered earnings you have on record.

Step 2Wage indexing

Earlier years are restated in current wage terms using the National Average Wage Index.

Step 3Highest 35 years

The 35 largest indexed years are selected. Missing years count as zero.

Step 4AIME

Those 35 years are summed and divided by 420 months, then truncated to the dollar.

Step 5PIA

The 90 / 32 / 15 percent formula converts your career average into a monthly benefit.

Step 6Claiming age

Claiming before Full Retirement Age reduces it. Waiting past it adds credits.

Step 7Monthly benefit

The final scheduled amount, truncated to the whole dollar.

Your highest 35 years matter

Social Security generally uses your 35 highest years of wage-indexed earnings.

Earlier earnings are wage-indexed

A dollar earned decades ago isn't treated the same as a dollar earned today.

Social Security is progressive

The formula replaces a larger percentage of lower levels of average indexed earnings than higher levels.

Claiming age matters

62 reduces your monthly benefit, Full Retirement Age pays 100% of your PIA, and 70 adds delayed credits.

Your Social Security number is only part of the story.

When you claim, how long you work, your spouse's benefit, taxes, other retirement income and your overall withdrawal strategy can dramatically change how Social Security fits into retirement.

Get the free Social Security Maximization Guide

Free guide

The Social Security Maximization Guide

10 strategies to help you get more from Social Security, and avoid expensive claiming mistakes.

How the 35-year rule can affect your benefit
When another year of work may increase your benefit
How claiming at 62, FRA or 70 changes your income
How married couples can think about coordinating benefits
How survivor benefits can affect claiming decisions
How working while collecting Social Security can affect payments
How Social Security may be taxed
Why Social Security should be coordinated with the rest of your retirement income

Working in retirement

Can I work while collecting Social Security?

Yes, but if you claim before Full Retirement Age the retirement earnings test may temporarily withhold some of your benefits.

Under Full Retirement Age in 2026: the annual earnings limit is $24,480. Generally $1 of benefits is withheld for every $2 earned above the limit.
In the year you reach Full Retirement Age: the limit is $65,160 for earnings before the month you reach it, and generally $1 is withheld for every $3 above that limit.
Beginning with the month you reach Full Retirement Age: there is no retirement earnings-test limit.

Benefits withheld under the retirement earnings test are not necessarily permanently lost, because benefit amounts can later be recomputed. The earnings test is separate from the benefit formula used by the calculator above.

Questions

Social Security, answered

Coming soon

Spousal Benefit Estimator

Spousal, divorced-spouse and survivor benefits follow separate rules. This version estimates a worker's own retirement benefit only.

Coming soon

Survivor Benefit Estimator

Spousal, divorced-spouse and survivor benefits follow separate rules. This version estimates a worker's own retirement benefit only.

Methodology

Built for education. Based on published Social Security rules.

35-year earnings formula National Average Wage indexing Official bend-point methodology Claiming-age adjustments Current SSA data (2026)No SSN or SSA login collected

SSA rules last verified: 2026-08-10. Verify your own benefit estimate directly with the Social Security Administration.

Where does Social Security fit in your retirement income?

A coordinated strategy may also consider pensions, retirement savings, taxes, guaranteed income, insurance-based planning and legacy goals.

Request a Retirement Income Review Read the maximization guide

Keep going

Related retirement income resources

Social Security Maximization Guide

10 strategies that can affect how much you receive over a lifetime.

Insurance Needs Estimator

See the protection gap your family would face without your income.

Retirement Income Strategies

How Social Security coordinates with guaranteed income and taxes.

My Next Wealth is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any government agency. This calculator is provided for educational purposes only and produces estimates based on information entered by the user, published Social Security rules, and, where necessary, assumptions about future earnings and program values. Actual benefits may differ. Users should verify benefit estimates through the Social Security Administration. This information is not intended as individualized tax, legal, investment, or Social Security advice.