About this calculator
Estimates only — not official advice. This calculator estimates the worker's own Social Security retirement benefit only. It is not a Social Security Administration (SSA) determination, and it does not cover employer pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs or any private pension — those are separate and are not counted here. Your official estimate is in your my Social Security account; if the two differ, the SSA figure governs.
Three ideas carry the whole calculation. First, AIME: SSA indexes each year's covered earnings to national wage growth, takes your highest 35 years, and divides by 420 months; years with no earnings count as zero, so a short career drags the average down. Second, the PIA formula is deliberately progressive — 90% of the lowest slice of AIME, 32% of the middle, 15% of the top — so lower earners replace a larger share of their earnings. Third, claiming age is permanent: claim before full retirement age and the reduction stays for life; delay past it and the increase stays for life (plus later cost-of-living adjustments, which this calculator does not project).
The amounts here are in eligibility-year dollars: the PIA uses the bend points of the year you turn 62, and no future cost-of-living adjustments are added. If you turned 62 years ago and claim now, your actual PIA will be higher because every COLA since your eligibility year has been applied to it — SSA's Case B below shows exactly how that chain works, and why this calculator reports the pre-COLA PIA for older eligibility years.
How to use it
- Find your AIME on your Social Security Statement (sign in at ssa.gov/myaccount) — do not type in your current salary, which is not wage-indexed and not a 35-year average.
- Pick the year you turn 62. Your bend points are locked to that year even if you delay claiming to 70.
- Enter your birth year (this sets your full retirement age) and the age you plan to start claiming, from 62 to 70.
- Read the monthly benefit at your claiming age against the PIA at full retirement age, and try 62, full retirement age and 70 to see the spread.
The formula
Worked in months, not whole years, so a full retirement age of 66 years and 6 months is handled exactly: claiming at 66 is 6 months early (6 x 5/9% = 3.33% reduction), and claiming at 67 is 6 months late (6 x 2/3% = 4% increase). The bend-point table in the results sums to the pre-rounding PIA; the PIA result itself is that sum rounded down to the dime, exactly as SSA rounds it. Spousal, survivor and family-maximum benefits, the earnings test for work before full retirement age, the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset are all out of scope and are not modelled.
Worked example
SSA Case A, workers retiring in 2027 (SSA, "Social Security Retirement Benefit Calculation"): AIME $6,072 with 2027 bend points $1,340 / $8,077 gives 0.90 x $1,340 = $1,206.00 plus 0.32 x ($6,072 - $1,340) = $1,514.24, for a PIA of $2,720.24, rounded down to $2,720.20. With full retirement age 67 (born 1960 or later) and claiming at 62 — 60 months early — the reduction is 36 x 5/9% + 24 x 5/12% = 20% + 10% = 30%, so the monthly benefit is $2,720.20 x 70% = $1,904.14, rounded down to $1,904 — exactly SSA's published figure. The same PIA claimed at 70 would be $2,720.20 x 124% = $3,373.05, rounded down to $3,373. SSA Case B (2022 bend points $1,024 / $6,172, AIME $11,843): 0.90 x $1,024 + 0.32 x $5,148 + 0.15 x $5,671 = $921.60 + $1,647.36 + $850.65 = $3,419.61, PIA $3,419.60 before COLAs; SSA carries that PIA through the 2022–2026 COLAs (8.7%, 3.2%, 2.5%, 2.8%, 3.6%), truncating to the dime after each COLA, to reach its published $4,187.40.
Sources: SSA — Primary Insurance Amount (ssa.gov/oact/cola/piaformula.html); SSA — Social Security Retirement Benefit Calculation, examples for workers retiring in 2027 (ssa.gov/OACT/progdata/retirebenefit2.html); SSA — Social Security Benefit Amounts (ssa.gov/oact/cola/Benefits.html); full retirement age schedule, 20 CFR 404.409 (ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0409.htm). 2027 and 2022 bend points read directly from SSA pages; 2025/2026 bend points are SSA's OACT wage-indexed parameters as reproduced concordantly. Verified October 2026. Last updated: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my AIME not my current salary?
AIME is a 35-year, wage-indexed average: SSA adjusts each past year's earnings for national wage growth, picks your highest 35 years, and divides by 420 months. A current salary is one unindexed year, so typing it in overstates the benefit for most people and understates it for someone whose best years were long ago. Your Social Security Statement shows the earnings record SSA actually uses.
Do bend points change if I delay claiming?
No. Your bend points are fixed by your eligibility year — the year you turn 62 — for life. Delaying to 70 earns delayed retirement credits (8% a year for workers born in 1943 or later) and later COLAs on top of your PIA, but it never moves you onto a later year's bend points.
Is the early-claim reduction really permanent?
Yes, for your own retirement benefit: the reduction computed at claiming stays in place for life, with later COLAs applied to the reduced amount. That is why the gap between claiming at 62 (70% of PIA at FRA 67) and at 70 (124% of PIA) is so large — about 77% more per month for waiting, before any COLA difference.
Why does this calculator refuse birth years before 1943?
Because the delayed-credit rate is not 8% a year for those cohorts (it phases from 6.5% to 7.5% for workers born 1938–1942, and the FRA schedule runs back to 65). Rather than silently apply the post-1942 rate to an earlier cohort, the calculator asks those users to use SSA's own estimator, where their cohort's schedule is built in.
What is not included?
Future cost-of-living adjustments; the earnings test if you work and claim before full retirement age; spousal, survivor and dependent benefits and the family maximum; the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset for certain public pensions; and any tax on benefits. Employer and private pensions are entirely separate — this page estimates Social Security only.
Where do I get my official figure?
Sign in to my Social Security at ssa.gov/myaccount for your official statement, which shows estimates at 62, full retirement age and 70 from your actual earnings record. Treat that statement as authoritative and this calculator as a way to understand — and check — how SSA gets there.
What formula does this US Social Security calculator use?
PIA = 90% x min(AIME, bend 1) + 32% x AIME between bend 1 and bend 2 + 15% x AIME above bend 2, rounded DOWN to the next lower $0.10; Monthly benefit = PIA x (1 + adjustment), rounded DOWN to the next lower $1; Early adjustment = -(5/9% per month for the first 36 months before FRA + 5/12% per month beyond); Delayed adjustment = +2/3% per month past FRA to age 70 Worked in months, not whole years, so a full retirement age of 66 years and 6 months is handled exactly: claiming at 66 is 6 months early (6 x 5/9% = 3.33% reduction), and claiming at 67 is 6 months late (6 x 2/3% = 4% increase). The bend-point table in the results sums to the pre-rounding PIA; the PIA result itself is that sum rounded down to the dime, exactly as SSA rounds it. Spousal, survivor and family-maximum benefits, the earnings test for work before full retirement age, the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset are all out of scope and are not modelled. The worked example on this page applies the formula step by step with real numbers, so you can verify the result by hand.