How the benefit is built: AIME, PIA, and bend points
Social Security doesn’t pay a flat percentage of your salary. It first averages your highest 35 years of (inflation-indexed) earnings into a monthly figure — your AIME — then runs that through a progressive formula to produce your Primary Insurance Amount, the benefit you’d collect at Full Retirement Age. The tiered formula deliberately replaces a bigger share of income for lower earners.
The 2025 PIA formula
PIA = 90% × first $1,226 + 32% × ($1,226–$7,391) + 15% × the rest
applied to your AIME. Earnings are only counted up to the 2025 taxable maximum of $176,100. The result is then adjusted up or down depending on the age you start claiming.
What makes this calculator different
- The real bend-point formula. Not a flat percentage of income — we apply the actual 90/32/15 tiers the SSA uses.
- The full claiming-age tradeoff. See your monthly benefit at every age from 62 to 70, side by side, so the cost of claiming early (and the reward for waiting) is unmistakable.
- The delay payoff, quantified. Claiming at 70 pays about 76% more per month than at 62 — we show your exact figures.
Frequently asked questions
How is my Social Security benefit calculated?+
Social Security uses your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME) — the inflation-adjusted average of your 35 highest-earning years — and runs it through a progressive bend-point formula to get your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), the monthly benefit you’d receive at Full Retirement Age. For 2025 the formula pays 90% of the first $1,226 of AIME, 32% of the amount from $1,226 to $7,391, and 15% of anything above that. The 90/32/15 tiers mean lower earners get back a larger share of their wages. This calculator uses that real formula, approximating your AIME from your current salary (capped at the $176,100 taxable maximum).
What is Full Retirement Age (FRA)?+
Full Retirement Age is the age at which you receive 100% of your PIA. For anyone born in 1960 or later it is 67. Claiming before FRA permanently reduces your monthly check; claiming after FRA earns delayed-retirement credits. FRA is the pivot point that every other claiming age is measured against.
Should I claim early at 62 or wait until 70?+
Claiming at 62 cuts your benefit to 70% of your PIA — a permanent 30% reduction — while waiting until 70 boosts it to 124% thanks to delayed-retirement credits (8% per year past FRA). That means a check at 70 is roughly 76% larger than at 62. Claiming early makes sense if you need the income, have health concerns, or want to invest the money sooner; waiting pays off if you’re healthy and expect a long retirement. The break-even age — where the larger delayed checks overtake the head start of early ones — typically falls in the late 70s to early 80s. The table and chart above show the tradeoff at every age so you can weigh it for yourself.
Will Social Security run out of money?+
The program is funded mainly by current workers’ payroll taxes plus its trust-fund reserves. Trustees’ projections have warned that, without legislative changes, the reserves could be depleted in the mid-2030s — at which point incoming taxes would still cover roughly 75–80% of scheduled benefits. Social Security would not disappear, but benefits could be trimmed or the program adjusted. These estimates assume current law and full benefits.
What about spousal and survivor benefits?+
A spouse can claim up to 50% of the higher earner’s PIA at their own Full Retirement Age, even with little or no earnings record of their own, and survivors can receive up to 100% of a deceased spouse’s benefit. This calculator estimates only your own retirement benefit based on your earnings — it does not model spousal, survivor, divorced-spouse, or disability benefits, which have their own rules. Check ssa.gov for those scenarios.
Disclaimer: This is a simplified estimate, not financial advice. Real Social Security benefits index your highest 35 years of earnings; this calculator approximates that from your current salary, so your actual benefit will differ. It does not model spousal, survivor, or disability benefits, nor taxes on benefits. For your official figures, create an account and review your statement atssa.gov.