by Daniel | Last Updated November 29th, 2021
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links, at no cost to you.
With almost 70 million people receiving Social Security benefits in the United States, only a small fraction of these people will actually qualify for the maximum benefit that is available, currently, the average monthly retirement benefit in September 2021 was just $1,559.
For 2022 the maximum Social Security Benefit will be $4,194 a month or $50,328 for the entire year, which is an increase of 5.9% from 2021, and it is more than twice as much as the average retired worker is currently receiving.
So if you’re interested in learning how it is possible to earn the maximum Social Security benefits available, I will go over a few of the pre-requests that are required to qualify.
How Long do You Have To Work For?
So the first important thing to know that is crucial in earning more Social Security Benefits is that you will need to work for at least 35 years.
As the amount you actually receive in Social Security benefits is based on your highest earning years over a 35 year period.
So if you only work for 30 years in total, 5 years will be calculated as $0 earnings when Social Security calculates your average earnings, and this can greatly affect how much you will receive when you do start receiving your monthly Social Security Benefits.
How Much Do You Need To Earn?
The next factor to qualify for maximum benefits is that you will need to earn at least as much or more than Social Securities’ maximum taxable income each and every year for 35 years, and this amount is adjusted every year.
So for 2021, the maximum taxable income is $142,800, and for 2022, it will actually increase to $147,000.
So it’s definitely not an easy goal to meet, and seeing that only about 6% of workers actually earn this amount in any given year is proof of that.
At What Age Should You Retire?
The last factor you need to know if you want to meet the requirements for maximum Social Security benefits is that you will have to wait until you are 70 before you collect any benefits.
Now you can actually start to receive benefits from the age of 50 if you are disabled, or 62 for everybody else.
But if you start to receive benefits when you turn 62 it can actually reduce your benefits by almost 30%.
It’s worth noting that each year that you delay receiving benefits can actually earn retirement credits of up to 8%, but remember that you can only accrue retirement credits until the age of 70, after this there is no benefit of waiting any longer.
So let’s take a look at what the maximum Social Security Benefits are by age for 2022.
| Age at Retirement | Maximum Benefit for 2022 |
| 62 | $2,364 |
| 65 | $2,993 |
| 66 | $3,240 |
| 67 | $3,568 |
| 70 | $4,194 |
So as you can see there is quite a large difference in how much more you can actually earn just by waiting a few extra years.
Being Realisitc
Now earning the largest monthly Social Security check possible is a nice idea and great if you can make it happen, but it’s not always realistic.
To be lucky enough to actually have consistent work your entire work career that pays more than the maximum taxable income that is required by Social Security is not really possible for most people.
There are so many different hurdles that come up in life that can easily affect what your payments will be in the future.
Things such as health issues, being fired, or having to care for a loved one can and do happen.
The best thing to do to avoid being under too much pressure when you do finally retire is to start saving and planning for retirement from a young age, as it can make a massive difference in how much money you have access to when you do decide to retire.