Certainly, nobody’s getting rich off their Social Security payments. Nevertheless, given the sky-high cost of pretty much everything in this economy, the program’s beneficiaries certainly aren’t refusing to accept their payments. Every dollar helps these days.
And this raises the question: Exactly how much money are, say, 70-year-olds getting from Social Security every month? Keep reading for the answer.
The number depends on this
Getting straight to the point, the Social Security Administration reports that as of the end of last year, the average 70-year-old receiving retirement benefits was getting $2,274.68 per month. Applying the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment that took effect at the beginning of this year pushes this monthly figure to just under $2,340, versus the overall average (all ages) retirement benefit of $2,071 per month.
Image source: Getty Images.
This number, however, comes with an important footnote. That is, it reflects a combination of people who permanently reduced the size of their monthly benefit by claiming at the earliest possible age of 62 rather than waiting until reaching their full retirement age (67, this year), in addition to those retirees who waited until well after reaching their full retirement age before filing.
The average monthly benefit for those who claimed early is just a little over $1,823, while those who were given credit for postponing their benefits are now collecting an average of $3,156.59 per month; just add this year’s 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment to these numbers. While the Social Security Administration’s data doesn’t detail how early or how late all of these beneficiaries filed for benefits, the program does point out that the 70-year-olds receiving the monthly benefit of $3,165.59 for delaying their benefits would only receive $2,654.85 per month had they filed at their full retirement age.
And for what it’s worth, this year’s maximum possible Social Security payment for 70-year-olds is $5,181 per month (https://www.ssa.gov/faqs/en/questions/KA-01897.html), although qualifying for this amount isn’t easy. Not only does it require you to hold off on claiming until you reach 70 years of age, but you must also meet the program’s steep lifetime work and taxable income requirements. Most people don’t. In fact, the Social Security Administration reports that only about one-fifth of all retired beneficiaries are receiving more than $3,300 per month.
Too late to change the payment, but not too late to do other things
If you’ve already turned 70 — or even if you’ve already initiated your Social Security benefits regardless of your age — there’s not much you can do about the size of your monthly payment now.
There are certainly some steps you can still take to put yourself in a better financial situation, though, like shopping around for a higher savings account rate than your local bank likely offers, or stepping into some higher-yielding dividend stocks than the ones you may currently hold. The seemingly little things can end up being a pretty big deal when you add them all together.
