Social Security Calculator 2026
Use this free Social Security benefits calculator to estimate your monthly retirement benefit. Enter your birth year and earnings (or AIME) to see how much you’d get at 62, full retirement age, or 70. Updated with 2026 bend points and FRA rules.
Social Security is a major source of income for most retirees in the United States. Knowing roughly how much you’ll receive each month helps you plan when to retire, how much to save in 401(k)s or IRAs, and when to start claiming benefits. This Social Security calculator gives you an estimate of your monthly retirement benefit based on your birth year and your earnings history—either as an approximate AIME from your current salary and years worked, or by entering your AIME directly from your Social Security statement.
The age at which you claim has a big impact on your monthly check. You can claim as early as 62 and receive a reduced benefit for life, or wait until your full retirement age (66 or 67 for most people) for your full benefit, or delay until 70 to lock in the highest possible monthly amount. This tool shows your estimated benefit at each age so you can compare and make a more informed decision. All estimates use the official SSA bend point formula and full retirement age rules for 2026.
How to use this Social Security calculator
Enter your birth year (to set your full retirement age), then choose when you plan to claim—62 through 70. For earnings, you can either enter your current annual salary and years of covered work (the calculator will estimate your AIME), or if you have your AIME from your Social Security statement, enter it directly for a more accurate estimate. The results show your estimated monthly benefit at your chosen claiming age, at full retirement age (PIA), and at 62 and 70 for comparison.
Full retirement age: 67 • First eligible at 62 (year 2032)
How Social Security benefits are calculated
The Social Security Administration uses a two-step process to determine your retirement benefit. First, they compute your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME) by taking your highest 35 years of earnings, adjusting past years for inflation, and dividing by 420 (35 years × 12 months). Only wages on which you paid Social Security tax count. If you have fewer than 35 years of work, the missing years are included as zeros, which lowers your AIME.
Second, they apply a formula to your AIME using bend points—dollar thresholds that change each year with national wage growth. The formula replaces a fixed percentage of your pre-retirement earnings: a higher percentage for lower earners and a lower percentage for higher earners. For the year you turn 62 (your first year of eligibility), the SSA publishes bend points; this calculator uses those same bend points to estimate your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is your benefit if you claim exactly at full retirement age.
Full retirement age (FRA) by birth year
Your full retirement age determines when you get 100% of your PIA. If you claim before FRA, your benefit is reduced; if you claim after FRA (up to 70), it’s increased. FRA by birth year: 66 for anyone born 1943–1954; 66 and 2 months for 1955, then 66 and 4 months for 1956, and so on up to 66 and 10 months for 1959; and 67 for anyone born 1960 or later. Our Social Security calculator uses your birth year to set FRA and then applies the correct early-reduction or delayed-credit rules.
Claiming early (62) vs at FRA vs delaying to 70
If you claim at 62, you get more years of payments but a permanently reduced benefit. For someone with FRA 67, claiming at 62 means about a 30% reduction. If you claim at full retirement age, you receive 100% of your PIA. If you delay past FRA up to 70, you earn delayed retirement credits of 2/3 of 1% per month (8% per year), so waiting until 70 gives you the maximum monthly benefit—about 24% more than at FRA for someone with FRA 67. There’s no benefit increase for delaying past 70. Use the calculator above to see your own numbers at 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, and 70.
When should I claim Social Security?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Claiming at 62 can make sense if you need the income right away, have health concerns, or don’t expect to live past your late 70s or early 80s. You’ll receive more total payments over a shorter period, but each check will be smaller for the rest of your life.
Waiting until full retirement age avoids the early-reduction penalty and is often a good middle ground. Waiting until 70 maximizes your monthly benefit and can be smart if you’re still working, have other savings to live on, or expect to live a long time. The “break-even” age—when total benefits from claiming later catch up to total benefits from claiming early—is usually in your late 70s or early 80s, depending on your claiming ages. Factors like taxes, spousal or survivor benefits, and whether you’re still working also matter. Use this Social Security benefits calculator to compare your estimated monthly benefit at different claiming ages, then consider your personal situation and, if needed, a financial or tax advisor.
Understanding AIME and PIA
AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings) is the foundation of your benefit. The SSA takes your highest 35 years of taxable earnings, indexes earlier years for wage inflation so they’re comparable to today’s dollars, then divides the total by 420 to get a monthly average. Only earnings up to the Social Security wage base each year count. If you worked 40 years, your lowest 5 years are dropped; if you worked 30 years, 5 years of zeros are included, which pulls your AIME down.
PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) is your benefit if you claim exactly at full retirement age. It’s computed by applying the bend point formula to your AIME. The formula is progressive: 90% of the first bend of AIME, 32% of the next segment, and 15% of the remainder. Bend points are updated each year; they’re tied to the year you turn 62. So someone turning 62 in 2025 has 2025 bend points applied to their AIME when they eventually claim. This calculator uses the same bend point and FRA logic so you can see how your birth year and earnings translate into an estimated monthly benefit at any claiming age.
For your actual earnings history and official benefit estimate, create a free my Social Security account at ssa.gov. You can then enter your statement’s AIME into this Social Security calculator to see estimates at 62, FRA, and 70 in one place.