Social Security’s wealthiest beneficiaries take in $4,873 per month from the program in 2024. That’s more than $58,000 annually. Some households may even get more if they have more than one person claiming benefits.
That’s already a pretty large sum, but it’s about to get even bigger. Starting in 2025, Social Security benefits are going up for everyone, including those at the top.
Next year, the government will pay out the largest benefits in the history of the program. But only a select few will be lucky enough to claim them.
How the Social Security Administration calculates your checks
The Social Security Administration updates its maximum benefit annually to accommodate the shifting Social Security benefit formula. This formula always begins with the government calculating your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME). This is your average monthly earnings over your 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for inflation. If you’ve worked fewer than 35 years, it’ll add zero-income years to your calculation.
To be clear, AIME doesn’t always consider all your earnings in a given year, though it does for most people. High earners may find this isn’t the case for them, since there’s a ceiling on income subject to Social Security payroll taxes. In 2024, that’s $168,600, but it was lower in previous years. Earning more than this limit won’t increase your Social Security benefit.
Average AIME typically rises over time because average earnings increase over time. That’s one reason the maximum Social Security benefit keeps going up.
The next step in the benefit formula is to determine your primary insurance amount (PIA). Here’s what the 2024 formula looks like:
- Multiply the first $1,174 of your AIME by 90%.
- Multiply any amount over $1,174 up to $7,078 of your AIME by 32%.
- Multiply any amount over $7,078 by 15%.
- Add up your results from Steps 1 through 3 and round down to the nearest $0.10.
