Millions of United States citizens receive a Social Security benefit check every month. A large portion of these pensioners live on their pension dollars alone, even though this is not advisable. For that reason, every dollar is very important in each monthly Social Security check.
Each year, the United States Government increases Social Security payments through the Cost-of-living-adjustment. This adjustment is commonly referred to as a COLA and serves to help retirees and prevent them from losing purchasing power. The COLA is always calculated on the basis of the increase in the CPI-W for the months of July, August and September.
With the announcement of the COLA in August, retirees have the possibility of knowing what their check will be as of January of the following year. In this case, for the year 2023 the check increased by 8.7%. This means that the maximum $4,194 Social Security maximum in 2022 increases as well, so retirees get more money every month.
What is the maximum Social Security pension in 2023?
Before knowing the figure it should be noted that the Social Security maximum is only achieved under certain conditions. A retiree who applies for retirement age at 62 cannot get this maximum check, for example. This must be taken into account when planning for retirement.
With this in mind, the maximum Social Security check in 2023 is $4,558 per month. This is an 8.7% increase in the check over 2022. Thanks to this increase retirees will not lose their purchasing power.
This maximum check of $4,558 is for retirees by retirement age. For disability retirement, the maximum check is different, as this maximum of $4,558 per month is not available.
How to get the maximum retirement pension check?
As we have previously commented, in order to get the maximum retirement pension check in 2023 it is mandatory to fulfill three conditions.
- Delay the retirement age. Applying for Social Security retirement at age 62 means getting only 70% of the money contributed as a worker. To get the maximum check of up to $4,558, it is mandatory to retire at age 70.
- Have a high salary. The more money you earn, the more money you will have in retirement. Each Social Security check will depend directly on what you make as a worker and the money you pay in taxes.
- Work for 35 years. If we work less than 35 years, the average Social Security check will go way down. Each year worked below this threshold will add $0 to the average monthly check. So the final amount will be much lower.
If we control these three aspects we will perfectly control the amount of the Social Security check during the retirement years.