Social Security benefits are a bit of a labyrinth to navigate at the best of times, especially if you’re not a professional when it comes to all things finance. Thankfully, several tools exist to make the process a little bit easier when it comes to calculating your Social Security check – and we’re here to help with a hypothetical breakdown that should (hopefully) make things a little clearer.
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In both scenarios, we’re assuming that you’re retiring at Full Retirement Age (FRA), and that average annual income figures are inflation adjusted according to the Social Security Administration’s standard practices. Note that your career earnings – or in other words, income derived from wages or net income from self-employment – are the only factors included in your Social Security Record.
If You Earned $60K for Most of Your Working Years, Here’s What Your Social Security Check Might Look Like
Alright, let’s dive in. First off – your benefits are calculated using the highest-earning 35 years of your career. In this example, let’s take $60,000 as the average, which breaks down to $5,000 in Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME).
The Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) is the technical term for your monthly Social Security benefit, and there’s a formula used to calculate this. For 2026, you’d receive 90% of the first $1,286 of your AIME (or $1,157), plus 32% of your AIME from a bracket spanning $1,286 through $7,749 (in this case, $1,188). The ceiling of those two brackets is referred to as the “bend points” for PIA. Anything above that $7,749 ceiling sees just 15% returned to the PIA.
Since we’re well under the second bend point, the math is simple. Add up the $1,157 and the $1,188 and there you have it – an estimated Social Security check of $2,345 a month.
Let’s Say You Earned Closer to $90K Throughout Your Working Career
Here’s a second example just to clarify things even further. If your 35 years of career wages came out to an AIME of $90,000 annually (or about $7,500 monthly) the breakdown might look something more like this:
90% of your AIME before the first bend point (the same $1,157 as above), plus;
32% of your AIME before the second bend point (this time, 32% of the next $6,214 – or approximately $1,988).
Since the AIME doesn’t exceed the second bend point, we again don’t have to worry about that pesky 15% calculation on anything above the $7,749 mark. Total those two numbers ($1,157 plus $1,988) and you’re left with a monthly Social Security check of approximately $3,155.
Other Factors That Could Change Your Monthly Social Security Check
Of course, any number of other factors could influence the amount you receive in terms of monthly Social Security benefits. Some of the most common instances follow.
Retiring prior to the FRA could reduce your monthly benefits by as much as 30%, while waiting to claim your benefits (up until age 70) can slightly increase your monthly check.
Also, should you not have worked a full 35 years prior to claiming benefits, those zero-earnings years will drastically impact your AIME, dragging it lower – and thus reducing your benefits.
Finally, there’s the Cost-of-Living Adjustments (or COLA), which generally pull your benefits check upward in tune with inflation. For 2026, Social Security beneficiaries saw a COLA increase of 2.8% applied, beginning in January of this year.
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This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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