Given the complex formula for how Social Security determines your payment, most seniors will be disappointed to learn the maximum benefit for 2021 isn’t easy to achieve.
According to the Todd Campbell at the Motley Fool website, if a person were to retire this year and qualified for Social Security’s maximum benefit, they would receive $3,895 a month. But of course, there’s a catch. They can only get that much if they waited until age 70 to file for benefits (“delayed retirement age“), have the right work history, and were paid the correct amount of money subject to payroll taxes prior to filing.
Campbell points out that Social Security adjusts your historical annual income for inflation and calculates an average monthly income based on your highest 35 earning years. Those without a 35-year work history have zeros included for those years, which reduces the benefit and eliminates the opportunity to get the maximum benefit.
And if you were younger than 70 when you filed? Expect the amount to decrease quite a bit.
For example, the maximum amount if a person filed at age 62 this year is $2,324. If they filed at age 66, it’s $3,113.
Seniors Deserve the Social Security Benefits They’re Entitled To
Getting the most out of Social Security is vital, and seniors have been cheated out of $581 that’s entitled to them. That amount makes up for the annual Social Security cost of living increases (COLAs) that barely went up, if at all. That’s why here at Council of Seniors, we are urging Congress to pass The SAVE Benefits Act. The passage of this bill is the only way you’ll ever receive that money.
Please sign our petition right away. Let’s show greedy Washington politicians how many people are behind this bill.
Will you get the maximum benefit this year? Leave us a comment and let us know.
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