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As you make plans for
your retirement, you may ask, “How much will I get from Social Security?”
There are several ways you can find out. Social Security sends a yearly
Social Security Statement to everyone age 25 or older who has paid Social
Security taxes and has not yet received benefits. You should receive a
Statement about three months before your birthday each year.
You also can request a Statement by calling
Social Security and asking for a form SSA-7004, Request for Social Security
Statement, or by downloading the form at www.socialsecurity.gov/online/ssa-7004.html
on the Internet. Or, you can use the Benefit Planners at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners
to estimate your benefit.
Many people wonder how their benefit is figured.
Social Security benefits are based on your lifetime earnings. Your actual
earnings are adjusted or “indexed” to account for changes
in average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then Social
Security calculates your average indexed monthly earnings during the 35
years in which you earned the most. We apply a formula to these earnings
and arrive at your basic benefit, or “primary insurance amount”
(PIA). This is how much you would receive at your full retirement age—65
or older, depending on your date of birth.
On the back of this page is a worksheet you can
use to estimate your retirement benefit if you were born in 1942. It is
only an estimate; for specific information about your situation, you should
talk with a Social Security representative.
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Factors that can change the amount
of your retirement benefit
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You choose to get benefits before your
full retirement age.
You can begin to receive Social Security benefits
as early as age 62, but at a reduced rate. Your basic benefit will
be reduced by a certain percentage if you retire before reaching retirement
age.
-
You are eligible for cost-of-living benefit
increases starting with the year you become 62.
This is true even if you do not get benefits
until 65 or even 70. Cost-of-living increases are added to your benefit
beginning with the year you reach 62 up to the year you start getting
benefits.
-
You delay your retirement past your full
retirement age.
You may continue working past your full retirement
age and choose not to begin receiving Social Security benefits. If
you do so, your benefit amount will be increased until you reach age
70.
- You are a government worker with
a pension.
If you also get or are eligible for a pension
from work where you did not pay Social Security taxes (usually a government
job), a different formula is applied to your average indexed monthly
earnings. To find out how your benefit is figured, contact Social
Security and ask for a copy of the publication, Windfall
Elimination Provision (Publication No. 05-10045) or review
it online at www.socialsecurity.gov.
You may find a more detailed explanation
about how your retirement benefit is calculated in the Annual
Statistical Supplement, 2002. The publication is available on
the Internet at www.socialsecurity.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2003/apnd.pdf
or you can order a paper copy by writing to the Government Printing Office,
P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954.
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Contacting Social Security
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For more information and
to find copies of our publications, visit our website at www.socialsecurity.gov
or call toll-free, 1-800-772-1213 (for the deaf or hard
of hearing, call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778). We
can answer specific questions and provide information by automated phone
service 24 hours a day.
We treat all calls confidentially. We also want to make sure you receive
accurate and courteous service. That is why we have a second Social Security
representative monitor some telephone calls.
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Estimating your Social Security retirement benefit
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For workers born in 1942
(people born in 1942 become age 62 in 2004 and are eligible for a benefit)
This worksheet shows how to estimate the Social Security monthly
retirement benefit you would be eligible for at age 62 if you
were born in 1942. It also allows you to estimate what you would
receive at age 65 and 10 months, your full retirement age, excluding
any cost-of-living adjustments for which you may be eligible.
If you continue working past age 62, your additional earnings
could increase your benefit. People born after 1942 can use this
worksheet, but their actual benefit may be higher due to additional
earnings and benefit increases. If you were born in a different
year, please go online at www.socialsecurity.gov
or contact us for that worksheet.
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Step
1:
Enter your actual earnings
in Column B, but not more than the amount shown
in Column A. If you have no earnings, enter "0." |
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Step
2:
Multiply the amounts in
Column B by the index factors in Column
C, and enter the results in Column D. This gives you your indexed
earnings, or the approximate value of your earnings in current dollars. |
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Step
3:
Choose from Column
D the 35 years with the highest amounts. Add these amounts.
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$__________________ |
Step
4:
Divide the result from
Step 3 by 420 (the number of months in 35 years). Round down to
the next lowest dollar. This will give you your average indexed
monthly earnings. |
$__________________ |
Step
5:
- Multiply the first $612 in Step 4 by 90%.
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$__________________
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-
Multiply the amount in Step 4 over $612 and
less than or equal to $3,689 by 32%.
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$__________________ |
- Multiply the amount in Step 4 over $3,689 by 15%.
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$__________________ |
Step
6:
Add a, b and c from Step
5. Round down to the next lowest dollar. This is your estimated
monthly retirement benefit at age 65 and 10 months, your full retirement
age. |
$__________________ |
Step 7:
Multiply the amount in
Step 6 by 75.8%. This is your estimated monthly retirement benefit
at age 62. |
$__________________ |
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Year |
A. Maximum Earnings |
B. Actual Earnings |
C. Index Factor |
D. Indexed Earnings |
1951 |
$3,600 |
|
11.88 |
|
1952 |
3,600 |
|
11.18 |
|
1953 |
3,600 |
|
10.59 |
|
1954 |
3,600 |
|
10.54 |
|
1955 |
4,200 |
|
10.07 |
|
1956 |
4,200 |
|
9.41 |
|
1957 |
4,200 |
|
9.13 |
|
1958 |
4,200 |
|
9.05 |
|
1959 |
4,800 |
|
8.62 |
|
1960 |
4,800 |
|
8.30 |
|
1961 |
4,800 |
|
8.14 |
|
1962 |
4,800 |
|
7.75 |
|
1963 |
4,800 |
|
7.56 |
|
1964 |
4,800 |
|
7.27 |
|
1965 |
4,800 |
|
7.14 |
|
1966 |
6,600 |
|
6.73 |
|
1967 |
6,600 |
|
6.38 |
|
1968 |
7,800 |
|
5.97 |
|
1969 |
7,800 |
|
5.64 |
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1970 |
7,800 |
|
5.38 |
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1971 |
7,800 |
|
5.12 |
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1972 |
9,000 |
|
4.66 |
|
1973 |
10,800 |
|
4.39 |
|
1974 |
13,200 |
|
4.14 |
|
1975 |
14,100 |
|
3.85 |
|
1976 |
15,300 |
|
3.60 |
|
1977 |
16,500 |
|
3.40 |
|
1978 |
17,700 |
|
3.15 |
|
1979 |
22,900 |
|
2.90 |
|
1980 |
25,900 |
|
2.66 |
|
1981 |
29,700 |
|
2.41 |
|
1982 |
32,400 |
|
2.29 |
|
1983 |
35,700 |
|
2.18 |
|
1984 |
37,800 |
|
2.06 |
|
1985 |
39,600 |
|
1.98 |
|
1986 |
42,000 |
|
1.92 |
|
1987 |
43,800 |
|
1.80 |
|
1988 |
45,000 |
|
1.72 |
|
1989 |
48,000 |
|
1.65 |
|
1990 |
51,300 |
|
1.58 |
|
1991 |
53,400 |
|
1.52 |
|
1992 |
55,500 |
|
1.45 |
|
1993 |
57,600 |
|
1.44 |
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1994 |
60,600 |
|
1.40 |
|
1995 |
61,200 |
|
1.35 |
|
1996 |
62,700 |
|
1.28 |
|
1997 |
65,400 |
|
1.21 |
|
1998 |
68,400 |
|
1.15 |
|
1999 |
72,600 |
|
1.09 |
|
2000 |
76,200 |
|
1.03 |
|
2001 |
80,400
|
|
1.01 |
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2002 |
84,900
|
|
1.00
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2003 |
87,000 |
|
1.00
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[Return to worksheet]
[Return to top] [Other
years]
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