In short, the maximum level of earnings subject to Social Security tax is $147,000 for 2022, increasing to $160,200 for 2023. It typically increases every year to adjust for the cost of living. The maximum you could begin collecting in 2023 would be $4,555 a month if you had earned the maximum amount for every year since you were 22, and if you waited until age 70 to retire, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). There’s little value in these numbers unless you know some basics about Social Security, because everyone’s calculation is different. Here’s a primer on how it works.
How Social Security Is Calculated
Your paycheck doesn’t all go to you. A percentage of your wages is taken out for federal and state income taxes, and then there’s your contribution to Social Security. The tax rate is 12.4% for 2023, up to the maximum taxable amount of $160,200. The contribution is therefore limited to $19,865 (12.4% of $160,200) whether your earnings are $160,200 or higher. You pay 6.2%, and your employer pays 6.2% out of their pocket, but you’re on the hook for the entire 12.4% if you’re self-employed. You’ll receive a monthly benefit based roughly on your lifetime of earnings when you’re ready to retire. The further away you are from retirement, the harder the forecast is to make, but the SSA’s website has a variety of calculators you can use to estimate your benefit. Social Security basically looks at your 35 highest-earning years, then it adjusts for inflation and changes in wage levels and applies a formula. The lowest amounts are dropped if you’ve worked more than 35 years. You get zero averaged in for the remaining years if you’ve worked less than 35 years. This means that the longer you work, the bigger your benefits check will be, even though you usually only have to work 10 years to be eligible for Social Security. You want to avoid having 25 years of zeros in your calculation.
Maximum Benefits Depend on Retirement Age
Two things have to happen if you want to receive the maximum benefit. You must earn the maximum allowable for 35 years, and you must wait until age 70 to begin receiving benefits. You’d get the $4,555 per month if you did both these things and started collecting in 2023. You’d get $3,506 per month if you earned the maximum for 35 years and retired at your full retirement age (age 66 in this example). And if you started claiming benefits as soon as you could (age 62) you’d get $2,572 per month. The Social Security program is designed to reflect changes in the standard of living, so the maximum taxable amount is likely to increase. It was $137,700 in 2020, and just $118,500 in 2015. The maximum in 2023 is $160,200. The benefit amount is also automatically adjusted for cost-of-living increases. If someone under our best case scenario retired in 2010 at age 70, they initially received $3,119 a month. That same person will receive $4,226 in 2023.
