Finance
You could lose money retiring early: The average Social Security benefit check by age in the US
Considering early retirement? It might cost you. Learn about average Social Security benefits by age in the US and how timing can affect your finances.
The retirement age in the United States at which workers can receive their full Social Security benefits depends on the year the potential beneficiary was born, assuming they meet all the other requirements to receive benefits.
Each year, the Social Security Adminstration (SSA) releases a report on the average benefit for each age group, taking into account that some beneficiaries see smaller payments because they retire before their Full Retirement Age. In contrast, these additional rules do not impact others and stay in the workforce until they are eligible to receive their full benefits.
Social Security benefits by age: comparing beneficiaries who retire early vs those who wait
By comparing the two figures, those looking to retire within the next few years can evaluate how staying in the workforce for a few more years might affect the size of their monthly Social Security payment. The first table column details the average benefit amount for those who receive an additional credit for delayed retirement, while the other shows the average for those who do not receive the credit.
| Benefits w/ delayed retirement credit | Benefits w/o delayed retirement credit | |
|---|---|---|
| 66 | $2,415.07 | $2,007.68 |
| 67 | $2,369.56 | $2,052.69 |
| 68 | $2,410.41 | $2,031.64 |
| 69 | $2,455.25 | $2,004.36 |
| 70 | $2,841.54 | $2,029.16 |
| 71 | $2,811.83 | $2,023.60 |
| 72 | $2,785.72 | $2,011.23 |
| 73 | $2,820.46 | $2,037.00 |
| 74 | $2,827.69 | $2,079.46 |
| 75 | $2,749.04 | $2,086.57 |
| 76 | $2,737.15 | $2,125.78 |
| 77 | $2,611.40 | $2,089.82 |
| 78 | $2,557.63 | $2,101.77 |
| 79 | $2,515.41 | $2,120.73 |
| 80 | $2,411.56 | $2,137.26 |
| 81 | $2,331.82 | $2,129.49 |
| 82 | $2,200.29 | $2,107.52 |
| 83 | $2,086.46 | $2,057.18 |
| 84 | $1,990.69 | $2,030.66 |
| 85 | $1,898.00 | $1,987.48 |
| 86 | $1,801.36 | $1,932.52 |
| 87 | $1,760.62 | $1,907.43 |
| 88 | $2,091.84 | $1,590.74 |
| 89 | $2,116.50 | $1,564.81 |
| 90+ | $2,122.90 | $1,558.02 |
If you take the average of each list, those who wait until their full retirement age or beyond, have benefits worth around 20 percent more than those who retire earlier. There is one caveat to that general rule, and that is that retirees ages 84 and 87 who retired earlier have a higher average payment compared to those that stayed in the workforce longer.
The same data published by the SSA shows that 15.8 percent of beneficaries receive a benefit payment worth under $1000; 44.7 percent receive benefits worth between $1000 and $2000; 28.6 percent are sent checks worth between $2000 and $3000; and only around 8.3 percent receive checks worth more than $3000. In 2020, a report published by the National Institute on Retirement Security, found that around 40 percent of beneficaires had no other forms of retirement savings to pull from besides Social Security, with the remaining 60 percent also having a private retirement account (i.e., 401(k) or Roth IRA) or a pension.