Social Security Calculator 2024: Estimate Your Benefits
Estimate your monthly Social Security retirement benefit using your age, income and when you want to retire.
Use this Social Security benefits calculator to estimate your retirement benefits based on your age, earnings and retirement date.
Calculating your Social Security retirement benefit — a crucial source of income for many retirees — can be an important step in choosing when to retire (signing up for and choosing a Medicare plan is another).
Most people first become eligible to collect Social Security retirement benefits at age 62. However, if you wait, your future monthly retirement benefit increases each month until you turn 70. In some cases, the amount you’d receive at 70 is nearly double the amount you’d receive at 62.
Estimated Social Security retirement benefits
Estimated benefits from age 62 to 70
Social Security break-even age
Your break-even point is the age at which the cumulative amount you may receive if you file later equals the cumulative amount you may receive if you file early. It signifies the point at which it may "pay off" to wait.
Calculate your estimated Social Security benefits
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.
How to use this Social Security calculator
Enter your date of birth. The Social Security Administration uses your date of birth to determine when you're eligible for 100% of your retirement benefits, among other things.
Enter the age at which you'd like to start taking your Social Security retirement benefits. How much your Social Security retirement check is depends in part upon when you decide to retire.
Enter your current annual income. This helps us estimate your past and future earnings.
Enter an estimate of your future annual salary to increases. This helps us estimate what you might earn between now and when you decide to retire.
How the Social Security calculator works
Three things greatly influence the size of your Social Security retirement benefits: your highest 35 years of earnings, when you were born and when you decide to start taking benefits. This Social Security benefits calculator accounts for those three things.
The math to calculate Social Security retirement benefits is complex, and the calculator also incorporates the following data from the Social Security Administration:
The average wage index series, which tracks average wages in the United States and annual changes in those average wages.
The annual wage base, which reflects the maximum amount of a person's wages subject to Social Security taxes in a given year.
The SSA's annual cost-of-living adjustments.
The bend points the SSA applies to a person's average indexed monthly earnings.
Full retirement age by birth year, as set by the SSA.
The set percentages by which the SSA decreases or increases a person's benefits depending on their birth year and when they apply for retirement benefits.
Shopping for Medicare plans? We have you covered.
MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT, or Medigap, is private health insurance that covers “gaps” in traditional Medicare coverage. Compare options from our Medigap roundup. | |
Best for Medigap plan options | Best for premium discounts |
MEDICARE PART D covers outpatient prescription drugs for people on Medicare. Compare options from our Medicare Part D roundup. | |
Best for member satisfaction
| Best for low premiums
|
MEDICARE ADVANTAGE is an alternative to traditional Medicare offered by private health insurers. Compare options from our Medicare Advantage roundup. | |
Best for size of network
| Best for low-cost plans
|
Star ratings from CMS and on a 5-★ scale. | |
Next steps: More answers about Social Security retirement benefits
Social Security is just one element of retirement income. Check out our free retirement calculator to estimate how much to save for retirement and how long that money might last.
Did you know that your Medicare Part B premiums are automatically deducted from your Social Security checks? Learn more about Part B premiums.
Additional questions you might want to look into include:
Key Social Security terms to know
Primary insurance amount (PIA): This is the Social Security retirement benefit a person receives if they apply for benefits at full retirement age.
Full retirement age: The age at which a person is entitled to 100% of their monthly Social Security retirement benefit (their PIA). The full retirement age for Social Security ranges from 65 to 67. The SSA decides a person's full retirement age based on when they were born.
Eligibility age: The earliest age at which a person can begin taking Social Security retirement benefits. Typically this is age 62. The eligibility age is not the same as the full retirement age. Taking Social Security benefits before full retirement age typically results in a smaller monthly check.
Bend point: The PIA is the sum of three distinct percentages of portions of the worker's average indexed monthly wages. The thresholds of these portions are the "bend points" in the PIA formula.
Spousal benefits: Social Security spousal benefits may provide a monthly sum to a retired worker's spouse or former spouse. The amount is up to 50% of the value of the retired worker's benefit. Receiving spousal benefits doesn't reduce the retired worker's retirement benefits; spousal benefits are on top of the retired worker's benefits.
Survivor benefits: Social Security survivors benefits are paid to a surviving spouse and eligible dependents of a deceased person who qualified for Social Security retirement benefits. The amount depends on the benefits the deceased was receiving or could have received, the survivor's relationship to the deceased and the applicant's age.
