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After you figure out your full retirement age (see the preceding section), you can get a ballpark idea of your monthly benefit. Currently, the average retirement benefit is $1,503 per month (this is being written in January 2020), but benefits go much higher, depending on your earnings history and when you begin collecting.

It’s easy to get at least a rough estimate of your retirement benefits. Just use one of the SSA’s online calculators — the Social Security Quick Calculator at www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc or the Retirement Estimator at www.ssa.gov/estimator. They can give you projected amounts for retiring at different ages, such as 62, waiting for your full retirement age (according to Table 3-1), or delaying all the way until 70. You also can get estimates customized to your personal situation by using AARP’s Social Security Benefits Calculator at www.aarp.org/work/social-security/social-security-benefits-calculator. See Chapter 6 for more details on calculating your benefits.

If you use the SSA’s Retirement Estimator, you’ll see roughly how much Social Security you could get, especially if your earnings don’t skyrocket or crash between now and the time you retire. If you haven’t yet done so, you can use the Retirement Estimator as a starting point to think about how much money you can count on in retirement. (I talk more about planning for retirement in Chapter 14.)

Online calculators are not the only tools you can use to get an idea of your benefit amount. You also can sign up for a personal “my Social Security” account with the Social Security Administration at www.ssa.gov/site/signin/en/. This online statement offers estimates of your future benefits for retirement, for your survivors, and for disability. For an in-depth discussion of “my Social Security” accounts, turn to Chapter 7.

Whether the Social Security numbers look small, large, or in between, remember that Social Security is meant to be just one part of your financial foundation.

As I mention earlier, you stand to get much more money each month if you can delay collecting Social Security past your full retirement age. For example, if you were born between 1943 and 1954, your Social Security payment at 62 is 25 percent lower than if you wait until 66 (your full retirement age). If you hold off to age 70 — four years past your full retirement age — the benefit balloons by 32 percent.

These differences can add up to real money over the years — or decades. Consider the following example:

 Elisa was born in 1957 and wants to know how she would be affected by choosing different dates to retire. She goes to SSA’s Quick Calculator (www.ssa.gov/OACT/quickcalc/index.html) and plugs in the $160,000 she earned last year. If Elisa waits until her full retirement age of 66 years and 6 months, she’ll get about $2,881 per month. If she waits until 70 to collect benefits, she’ll get about $3,756 per month. And if she wants to start as soon as possible, at 62, she’ll get a more modest $2,044 per month.

 Elisa knows that longevity runs in her family, so she wants to find out how much she’ll collect from Social Security if she lives to 90. To get the answer, she calculates the number of months she would receive benefits in three different cases: starting at 62 (336 months), starting at 66 and six months — her full retirement age — (280 months), and starting at 70 (240 months). Then she multiplies the number of months by the estimated benefit provided by the online tool.

 If Elisa starts the benefit at 62 and lives to 90, she could end up with more than $686,784 over her lifetime, not even counting increases for inflation (336 months between 62 and 90, multiplied by the estimated benefit of $2,044 per month for benefits starting at 62). If she starts at 66 and 6 months, her lifetime collection would exceed $806,680. And if she starts the benefit at 70, she ends up with more than $901,440. The difference between starting benefits at 62 and at 70 comes to $214,656 for Elisa.

Figure 3-1 shows that your decision on when to begin retirement benefits makes a real difference in your monthly income. The numbers here are based on a retirement age of 66 and a monthly benefit of $1,000. They may differ based on your year of birth and other factors.

Source: Social Security Administration

FIGURE 3-1: The amount of your monthly benefit depends on the age you start receiving it.

Waiting to take retirement benefits beyond your full retirement age could prove especially important for Baby Boomers and, right behind them on the age ladder, members of Generation X. For people born in 1943 or later, the retirement benefit expands at a rate of 8 percent per year (or 2⁄3 of 1 percent per month) for each year you delay claiming (up to age 70) after reaching full retirement age. Check out Table 3-2 for the numbers.

TABLE 3-2 Increase for Delayed Retirement

Year of Birth*	Yearly Rate of Increase	Monthly Rate of Increase
1933–1934	5.5 percent	of 1 percent
1935–1936	6.0 percent	½ of 1 percent
1937–1938	6.5 percent	of 1 percent
1939–1940	7.0 percent	of 1 percent
1941–1942	7.5 percent	5⁄8 of 1 percent
1943 or later	8.0 percent	2⁄3 of 1 percent

* If you were born on January 1, refer to the previous year.