Due to the high inflation in 2022, Social Security will get an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2023. As a result, retirees nationwide should anticipate noticeable increases in their monthly payments. It includes even those former high earners who recently receive the maximum Social Security payment, which is predicted to increase from $4,194 per month in 2022 to $4,555 per month the following year. That would be a huge amount. But becoming eligible for the maximum Social Security benefit is essentially unreal.
An individual would need to fulfill three requirements to be eligible for the largest Social Security benefit. First: Due to the way the Social Security Administration determines your payments, you would need to work for 35 years or more. Your average yearly and monthly wages are calculated by taking the 35 years with the highest inflation-adjusted earnings and averaging them together (again, accounting for inflation).
However, if you worked even one year fewer than 35 years, the calculation would include at least one “zero,” which would lower your average income. You wouldn’t be able to receive the maximum Social Security benefit due to that. Still, many people spend their entire careers working for 35 years or longer.
Retirees who want to receive the largest payout must postpone the beginning of their pension period till they turn 70. Your full retirement age, or when you become eligible for what the government considers to be your full Social Security payment, is 67 if individuals were born after 1960.
At full retirement age, the maximum monthly benefit check is $3,568 this year and will increase to $3,808 the next year. However, until you are 70, your monthly check increases by 8% for every year you put off taking advantage of those benefits. The “delayed retirement credits” enable an individual to get the maximum $4,555 monthly payment. Only 1 in 20 Social Security recipients, however, waits until age 70 to file a claim.
