Here are the average Social Security benefits at ages 62, 67, and 70

When it comes to retirement finances, Social Security plays a huge role for millions of Americans. There are exceptions for some workers, but for the most part, tens of millions of people spend their careers paying Social Security taxes with the expectation of reaping benefits on the back with a guaranteed retirement income.

Because Social Security is so important to the financial well-being of many retirees, it’s always a good idea to have an idea of ​​what you can expect to receive, which depends a lot on when you claim benefits.

Because of changes like the Social Security Annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) and potential changes in your income, it can be difficult to guess your exact benefit amount when you’re older, but you can use average monthly benefits to start you are planning your retirement finances.

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How Social Security calculates your monthly benefit

social security calculate your monthly benefit using your average earnings over the 35 years when you earned the most money.

It adjusts your earnings for inflation (called “indexing”) to convert amounts to current dollar value. Then she divide the total number of months in those 35 years to get the indexed average monthly earnings (AIME). For those under 35 years of earnings, Social Security uses zeros for the missing years to calculate the average.

From there, Social Security applies a formula using the curve points (which change annually) to determine your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) — the monthly benefit you’ll receive if you claim at full retirement age. Here are the full retirement ages by year of birth:

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Average Social Security benefits at ages 62, 67, and 70

Ages 62, 67 and 70 are key milestones in Social Security. Age 62 is the earliest you can claim benefits, 67 is most people’s full retirement age, and 70 is when monthly benefits stop growing if you delay claiming them past full retirement age.

Claiming social insurance at age 62 would reduce the monthly PIA by 30%; deferring benefits until age 70 would increase by about 24% (assuming full retirement age is 67). Since many people consider claiming Social Security at these three ages, I think it’s helpful to have an idea of ​​what the average benefit looks like at those ages:

Data source: Social Security Administration. Benefits rounded to the nearest whole dollar.

Again, these amounts are likely to change due to COLA, but they give an idea of ​​what many people can roughly expect to receive if they claim benefits at these ages.

Many people will find that Social Security is not enough for retirement

The amount someone needs to have a satisfactory retirement varies widely. Factors such as location, expenses, and retirement plans all influence how much someone will need in retirement.

Someone who lives in Southern California and plans to travel the world would probably need more saved than someone who wants to spend time relaxing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, for example. However, many people will find that Social Security is not enough to fully cover their retirement expenses.

The goal should always be to have Social Security as supplemental income in retirement. Of course, this is not feasible for many Americans, and millions use Social Security as their only source of retirement income. However, for those fortunate enough to have the means to take advantage of retirement accounts and other investments, it should absolutely be a priority.

By taking advantage of 401(k)s and IRAs, you put yourself in a position to reduce your reliance on Social Security.