Social Security windfall: meet this one requirement and get $5,000
Social Security is a major source of income for nearly 60% of retirees. Here’s what it takes to get over $5,000 per month from the program.
Social Security has been sending Americans regular payments since 1940. The program has expanded over the years from just paying retirement benefits to the primary contributor. Survivor benefits and those for spouses and children as well as disability have been added. Nowadays, the Social Security Administration also provides Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to Americans with little or no resources.
Still, the vast majority of the more than 70 million beneficiaries are Americans who have retired. Currently in 2025, the average monthly payment is close to $2,000, however, it is possible to receive over $5,000 each month.
How to get $5,000 Social Security windfall
While only a little more than a third of non-retirees think that this will be a major source of income, among current retirees 58% say that it is according to a Gallup report last year. The SSA bases each beneficiary’s Social Security entitlement on data gathered throughout their working life, which is formed into an earnings record.
You can use your personal #mySocialSecurity account to request a replacement Social Security card, check the status of an application, estimate future benefits, or manage the benefits you already receive. Learn more here: https://t.co/WH9kmNxT3W pic.twitter.com/wi6BBnofo6
— Social Security (@SocialSecurity) February 10, 2025
This information is then used, with a three-part process, to calculate the size of payments. However, there are things you should keep in mind so that you can maximize the amount that you get each month when you retire.
If you want to receive the maximum amount possible, which is $5,108 per month in 2025, you will have to wait to begin claiming benefits until you turn 70. It will also require that you have had 35 working years where your earnings were equal or surpassed the maximum taxable amount set each year by the SSA.
Currently in 2025 the maximum taxable earnings is set at $168,600. This, like Social Security benefits, is changed every year based on the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
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