How to calculate SS retirement benefits after maxing out until 45 then stopping?

The Social Security Administration's website (ssa.gov) has the official calculator. Log into your mySocialSecurity account and you'll find your actual earnings history and personalized benefit estimate. It's the most accurate because it uses your actual earnings record. The estimate should account for zero years, but make sure you've set your "future earnings" to zero if you don't plan to return to work. The system calculates benefits based on your highest 35 years of earnings, so having only 25 years means you'll have 10 zeros in the calculation, which will reduce your benefit somewhat from the maximum possible. Since you contributed at the maximum level for those 25 years, you'll still receive a good benefit - just not as high as someone who had 35 years at maximum.

The calculator on ssa.gov is COMPLETELY WRONG sometimes!!! I used it last year and when I finally talked to an actual agent the number was off by almost $600/month!!! Don't trust it 100%. The SSA website doesn't account for everything correctly, especially when you have gaps in work history. You need to TALK TO A REAL PERSON at Social Security to get the right calculation!!!!

I was in almost the same boat - maxed out contributions for 22 years then switched to part-time consulting work with minimal SS contributions for the past 12 years. I can share what I learned about the calculation. SSA takes your highest 35 years of earnings (adjusted for inflation) and averages them to calculate your AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings). Then they apply a formula to determine your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), which is your benefit at Full Retirement Age. In your case with 25 years at max and 10 years of zeros, you'll still get a substantial benefit - likely around 70-75% of what you'd get with 35 max years. The exact percentage depends on when your 25 years occurred due to the indexing formulas. Try the detailed calculator at https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.html - it's more complex but gives more accurate results than the quick calculator.

I've been trying to reach Social Security for weeks to get an accurate calculation for my retirement benefits and kept getting disconnected or faced hours of wait times. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent was able to look at my specific work history (similar to yours - high earnings then a gap) and give me an accurate calculation. Worth it to get a precise number from SSA directly rather than estimating, especially with a complicated work history like yours.

i used the ssa calculator last year its pretty easy just put in ur birthdate and earnings history, but ur gonna have less than max cause of the missing years. they take top 35 years so if u only have 25 years thats 10 zeros dragging ur average down. still gonna be decent tho since u maxed out for so long

One thing nobody mentioned yet - contributing to your IRA is great for retirement planning, but it doesn't affect your Social Security benefit calculation at all. SS benefits are based solely on your earnings that were subject to Social Security taxes. Also, make sure you understand the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) if you ever worked for an employer where you didn't pay into Social Security (like some government jobs). This can reduce your benefit amount if it applies to you. For the most accurate calculation, you really need to understand your complete earnings history. The detailed calculator I mentioned earlier (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.html) allows you to enter your actual earnings year by year and will give you the most precise estimate.

My husband just went thru this! We were shocked how much lower his benefit was with some zero years. We thought since he made max contribution for almost 20 years it would be close to maximum benefit but it was WAY less. Make sure u plan accordingly! The difference between having 35 years of max earnings vs just 25 years is bigger than u might think.

To answer your specific question about how much the 10 zero years will affect your benefit: each zero year essentially reduces your AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings) by approximately 2.86% (1/35). However, due to the progressive nature of the Social Security benefit formula, the impact on your actual benefit will be less than that percentage. For someone who had maximum earnings for 25 years and 10 zeros, you might expect a reduction of roughly 20-25% compared to having 35 years of maximum earnings. The exact amount depends on the specific years you worked and inflation adjustments. One strategy some people consider is working part-time for a few more years, even at much lower earnings than your previous maximum, to replace some of those zeros. Even a modest income can significantly improve your eventual benefit if it replaces a zero year.

just wanted to say im in similar situation, left work at 52 and worried about my ss benefit. the way it works is crazy! but i did find out that even a small income helps a lot if it replaces a zero. my brother drives uber 10hrs/week and it boosted his benefit by almost $200/month vs if he had zeros!

anybody know if military service counts extra for social security? i heard something about special credits but dont know if thats real

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I'm going to try the detailed calculator and also consider whether I might be able to do some part-time work to replace some of those zero years. It sounds like even modest earnings could help improve my benefit calculation significantly. I'm also going to try reaching out directly to SSA to get a more personalized estimate given my specific situation. Really appreciate all the insights!