What Is the Average Social Security Benefit at Age 72?
Written by
Josephine Nesbit
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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When you delay Social Security benefits beyond your full retirement age, your benefit amount will continue to increase up until age 70 with a maximum monthly benefit of $4,194 in 2022.
Social Security benefits are typically calculated using your 35 best-paid years and producing your “average indexed monthly earnings.” The Social Security Administration then uses this to determine the amount you’ll get each month from Social Security if you claim benefits at your full retirement age — which is 66 if you were born in 1956, gradually increasing to 67 for people born in 1960 or later.
After age 70, there is no incentive to continue delaying retirement benefits. At age 72, your benefit amount would be the same as if you claimed at age 70. According to the SSA, you’ll get 132% of the monthly benefit because you delayed getting benefits for 48 months.
The SSA also adjusts for inflation and implements annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA. In 2022, beneficiaries saw a COLA increase of 5.9% — the highest in decades.
According to AARP, the 2022 COLA raised the average retirement benefit by $92 a month. However, this wasn’t enough to account for this year’s inflation rate, which has lingered around 8% for most of the year. Retirees have been facing higher costs on everything from food to gas, but beneficiaries may see additional savings next year with Medicare’s Part B plan in 2023, as previously reported by GOBankingRates.
It’s estimated that the COLA for 2023 will be higher. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for September 2022 is scheduled for release on Oct. 13. At that time, the COLA may be announced.
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