Does everyone get the full $5,100 Social Security payment at age 70 or is there an earnings limit?

Your coworker is completely wrong! Not everyone gets the same amount at 70. The $5,100 is just the MAXIMUM possible benefit for someone who earned at the maximum taxable income level for 35+ years and delays until 70. Your actual benefit is calculated based on your lifetime earnings (specifically your highest 35 years) and when you claim. Most people get WAY less than that maximum.

The previous comment is correct. Social Security benefits are highly individualized based on your earnings history. The $5,100 figure (actually $4,873 in 2023, likely to be higher by 2025 with COLA increases) is only for people who: 1. Earned at or above the maximum taxable earnings cap for at least 35 years 2. Delayed claiming until age 70 to maximize delayed retirement credits For most Americans, their benefit at 70 is significantly less. The average is closer to $2,000-$2,500 at full retirement age, then increased by 8% per year for each year you delay until 70.

ya ur coworker has no idea what ther talking about. i got WAY less than 5 grand when i claimed. its based on what u made during ur life

To add to what others are saying, those self-employment gaps will definitely affect your benefit if they meant you have years with zero or low earnings among your 35 highest years. Social Security calculates your benefit using the highest 35 years of earnings (indexed for inflation). If you have fewer than 35 years of earnings, they'll use zeros for the missing years, which brings down your average. You should create a my Social Security account at ssa.gov if you haven't already. It will show your earnings history and give you a personalized estimate of your benefits at different claiming ages.

I thought the same thing until I talked to SSA last year! Spent 3 HOURS on hold to find out my benefit will be about $1,850 at my full retirement age (67), not even CLOSE to that maximum! Those gaps in your work history WILL affect your benefit amount.

My sister and I both claimed at 70, and our benefits are completely different! She was a corporate executive and gets almost $4,300/month. I was a teacher and get just under $2,200. Same claiming age, totally different amounts because of our lifetime earnings.

ALSO! Something nobody mentioned yet - even if you did qualify for the maximum, that $5,100 figure isn't right for 2023. The max at age 70 for 2023 is $4,555 if you had maximum earnings for 35+ years. The numbers in these discussions are ALWAYS changing due to COLA adjustments.

One more important point: there IS an earnings limit, but it works differently than you're thinking. The earnings limit applies if you claim benefits BEFORE your Full Retirement Age (FRA) while still working. It doesn't affect what your benefit amount will be at age 70. At age 70, you can earn unlimited income from working without any reduction to your Social Security benefits. The only thing that might affect your net benefit at that point would be taxation - up to 85% of your benefit could be taxable depending on your combined income.

Just to summarize what everyone's been saying for Yara - your coworker is definitely wrong about everyone getting the same amount. Your Social Security benefit is calculated using a complex formula based on your highest 35 years of earnings, adjusted for inflation. Those self-employment gaps where you didn't pay in will likely be counted as $0 years if you don't have 35 years of covered earnings, which will lower your average and reduce your benefit. The key steps to get accurate information: 1) Create your my Social Security account at ssa.gov to see your actual earnings record and benefit estimates, 2) Remember that the maximum benefit only applies to people who earned at or above the Social Security wage base for 35+ years, and 3) At age 70, there's no earnings test so you can work and collect full benefits simultaneously. Don't rely on what coworkers think they know - get your personalized estimate from SSA directly!

Adding to what everyone has shared - I think there's one more factor worth mentioning that could affect your specific situation. Since you mentioned gaps during self-employment, it's possible some of those years you DID pay into Social Security through self-employment taxes (Schedule SE) but maybe didn't realize it was being credited to your record. When you create that my Social Security account that Oliver mentioned, pay close attention to your earnings history. Sometimes self-employed folks are surprised to see they have more credited years than they remembered. However, self-employment income is also capped at the same Social Security wage base as regular employment, so if you had lower earnings during those years, it could still impact your benefit calculation even if you were paying in. The good news is that if you're still working now, you can potentially replace some of those lower-earning years in your top 35 if you're earning more currently. Social Security recalculates your benefit each year you continue working and paying in, so higher recent earnings can bump out lower years from the calculation.

I'm seeing a lot of great advice here, but I wanted to add one more perspective as someone who went through this confusion myself a few years ago. Your coworker's misconception is super common - I think it comes from those clickbait articles that always lead with "Social Security pays up to $X per month!" without explaining that very few people actually get that maximum. What really helped me understand my situation was not just creating the my Social Security account (which is absolutely essential), but also using their retirement estimator tool that lets you plug in different scenarios. You can see how working a few more years might impact your benefit, or how different claiming ages would affect your monthly payment. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier: if you're still a few years away from claiming, you might want to consider whether it makes financial sense to buy back some of those self-employment years by making voluntary contributions if you're eligible. It's not always worth it, but for some people with significant gaps, it can meaningfully increase their benefit. A financial advisor who specializes in Social Security can help you run those numbers. Bottom line - your benefit is as unique as your work history, and getting the real numbers from SSA directly is the only way to plan properly!

I'm a newcomer to this community but have been following Social Security discussions closely as I approach retirement myself. This thread has been incredibly educational! I wanted to share something that might help others who are in similar situations with self-employment gaps. I recently discovered that the Social Security Administration actually has a detailed publication called "Social Security: Understanding the Benefits" (Publication No. 05-10024) that breaks down exactly how they calculate benefits, including how self-employment years are treated. What surprised me was learning that even partial years of self-employment earnings can count toward your 40 quarters needed for eligibility, and every dollar you paid in self-employment tax gets credited to your earnings record. For anyone dealing with the complexity of mixed employment history like Yara, I'd also recommend checking if your local SSA office offers free benefit counseling sessions. Many offices have these available by appointment, and they can walk you through your specific earnings record and help you understand exactly how your unique situation will affect your benefits. The key takeaway from everyone's responses seems to be: don't rely on assumptions or secondhand information when it comes to something as important as your retirement income. Get your actual data from SSA directly!

As someone new to this community who's also navigating Social Security planning, I wanted to thank everyone for this incredibly informative discussion! I'm in a somewhat similar situation to Yara - I have about 25 years of consistent W-2 employment but also had a 5-year period where I was freelancing and didn't always pay self-employment taxes consistently. Reading through all these responses has been eye-opening. I had also fallen into the trap of thinking there was some standard "maximum" that most people could expect if they just waited until 70. The real-world examples from GalaxyGazer about the teacher vs. corporate executive getting vastly different amounts really drove home how individualized this all is. I'm definitely going to create my SSA account this week and use that retirement estimator tool Logan mentioned. The point about potentially being able to "buy back" some years through voluntary contributions is fascinating - I had no idea that was even possible in some cases. One question for the group: for those of you who have used the online retirement estimator, how accurate have you found it to be compared to what you actually received when you claimed? I'm wondering if I should treat those estimates as rough guidelines or if they're pretty reliable for planning purposes. Thanks again to everyone for sharing such detailed and practical advice!

As a newcomer to this community, I just wanted to say how incredibly helpful this entire discussion has been! I'm in my early 60s and have been getting conflicting information about Social Security from friends and family, so finding this detailed conversation is like striking gold. What really stands out to me is how many people (myself included until reading this) have misconceptions about Social Security benefits. The idea that everyone gets the same amount at 70 is so pervasive - I've heard variations of this from multiple people, and it's clearly completely wrong based on all the real examples shared here. I'm particularly grateful for the practical steps everyone has outlined: creating the my Social Security account, using the retirement estimator, and potentially scheduling those free counseling sessions at the local SSA office. These are concrete actions I can take instead of just worrying about what my benefit might be. One thing that gives me hope after reading through all these responses is that even with gaps or lower earning years, Social Security still provides meaningful benefits based on what you did contribute. It's not an all-or-nothing system, which I think I had started to fear. Thank you to everyone who shared their personal experiences and expertise. This is exactly the kind of community discussion that helps people make better informed decisions about their financial future!

As a newcomer to this community, I wanted to jump in and share something that might be helpful for everyone discussing Social Security calculations. I work in HR and help employees understand their benefits, and this misconception about everyone getting the same amount at 70 comes up ALL the time. One resource I always recommend is the Social Security Administration's "Break-Even Calculator" that's part of their online tools. It helps you compare the total lifetime benefits you'd receive by claiming at different ages (62, full retirement age, or 70). For someone like Yara with gaps in earnings, this can be especially valuable because it shows whether the delayed retirement credits from waiting until 70 actually make financial sense given your specific benefit amount. The other thing I'd add is that many people don't realize their earnings record might have errors. When you create that my Social Security account, definitely review your entire earnings history year by year. I've seen cases where employers didn't report earnings correctly, or where people's names didn't match exactly (maiden names, etc.) and some earnings weren't credited properly. You can dispute errors, but it's much easier to catch them before you claim benefits. For anyone with self-employment history like several people have mentioned, also double-check that your self-employment taxes were properly credited. Sometimes there are delays in processing, especially if you filed extensions or amended returns. Great discussion everyone - this is exactly the kind of real information people need instead of the myths that get passed around!