Social Security Calculator

Social Security in the U.S.

Social Security is the federal social insurance program that pays monthly benefits to retired workers, people with disabilities, and the families of workers who retire, become disabled or die. It was created by the Social Security Act of 1935, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, and the first monthly checks went out in 1940. Today it is the largest single program in the federal budget and pays benefits to more than 70 million people, counting Supplemental Security Income recipients.

The program is run by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and financed mainly by payroll taxes. It is largely pay-as-you-go: today's workers fund today's beneficiaries, and any surplus is credited to two trust funds. Retirement and survivor benefits are paid from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, and disability benefits from the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund. The Social Security Trustees have projected that the combined reserves will be depleted in the mid-2030s, after which incoming taxes would still cover roughly 80% of scheduled benefits unless Congress changes the law.

The main types of benefits are:

• Retirement benefits for insured workers age 62 or older.
• Disability benefits (SSDI) for workers who cannot work because of a severe, long-lasting medical condition.
• Spousal benefits for current and some divorced spouses of retired or disabled workers.
• Survivor benefits for widows, widowers, children and dependent parents of deceased workers.
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a separate needs-based program funded from general revenue for people with very low income who are aged, blind or disabled.

Cost-of-Living Adjustment

Since 1975, Social Security benefits have risen automatically each January with a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) tied to the CPI-W, the price index the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks for urban wage earners and clerical workers. The COLA equals the increase in the average CPI-W for July through September over the same months of the previous year. Recent COLAs have ranged from 0% in 2010, 2011 and 2016 to 8.7% in 2023; the COLA for 2025 was 2.5%. Because benefits keep pace with inflation for life, delaying benefits to get a larger inflation-protected check is a form of longevity insurance.

Social Security Tax

Social Security is funded by a payroll tax under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). Employees pay 6.2% of wages and employers pay a matching 6.2%, for 12.4% in total. Self-employed people pay both halves, 12.4%, through the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA), though they can deduct the employer-equivalent half when figuring income tax. The tax applies only up to an annual wage base, $176,100 in 2025, which rises each year with average wages. Earnings above the base are not taxed for Social Security and do not raise future benefits.

Medicare's hospital insurance is funded by a separate 1.45% tax on employees and employers (2.9% for the self-employed) with no wage cap, plus an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly). The 7.65% you see on your pay stub is the 6.2% Social Security tax plus the 1.45% Medicare tax.

Paying the tax earns credits toward eligibility. In 2025, you earn one credit for each $1,810 of covered earnings, up to four credits a year. Forty credits, roughly ten years of work, make you fully insured for retirement benefits. Your benefit amount is based on your highest 35 years of earnings, indexed for wage growth.

Benefits themselves can be taxable. Up to 50% of benefits are subject to federal income tax when your combined income (adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest plus half of your benefits) exceeds $25,000 for a single filer or $32,000 for a married couple filing jointly, and up to 85% are taxable above $34,000 and $44,000. These thresholds are not indexed for inflation, so more retirees pay tax on benefits every year. Several states also tax benefits, though most do not.

Some workers are outside the system. Many state and local government employees covered by their own pension plans, and certain religious groups who object to insurance, do not pay Social Security tax. The Social Security Fairness Act of 2025 repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, which had reduced benefits for many people with pensions from non-covered work.

• Employee Social Security tax: 6.2% of wages up to the wage base.
• Employer match: 6.2% of the same wages.
• Self-employed: 12.4% of 92.35% of net self-employment earnings, up to the wage base.
• Medicare: 1.45% each for employee and employer, 2.9% self-employed, no cap.

Social Security for Retirement

You can start retirement benefits as early as 62, but the amount depends on when you claim relative to your full retirement age (FRA). FRA is 66 for people born from 1943 through 1954, rises by two months per birth year for those born from 1955 through 1959, and is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. At FRA you receive 100% of your primary insurance amount (PIA), the benefit calculated from your earnings record.

Claiming early permanently reduces the benefit by 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before FRA and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month. For someone with an FRA of 67, claiming at 62 means 60 months early and a 30% cut, so the check is 70% of the PIA. Delaying past FRA earns delayed retirement credits of 2/3 of 1% a month, or 8% a year, until 70, so a person with an FRA of 67 who waits until 70 receives 124%. There is no benefit to waiting past 70.

The right claiming age depends on several things:

• Health and family longevity. Delaying pays off only if you live long enough; the break-even point is usually somewhere around age 80 to 83.
• Need for income. If you have no other way to cover expenses, claiming early may be necessary.
• Marriage. The higher earner's benefit becomes the survivor benefit, so delaying it protects the surviving spouse.
• Work plans. If you claim before FRA and keep working, the earnings test withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 earned above $23,400 (2025), and $1 for every $3 above $62,160 in the year you reach FRA. Withheld benefits are not lost; your benefit is recalculated upward at FRA.
• Taxes and other savings. Drawing from savings first while delaying Social Security can reduce lifetime taxes and buys a larger inflation-protected annuity.
• Investment returns. If you would invest early benefits and earn a high return, claiming early looks better; the calculator above lets you test this assumption.

Social Security for the Disabled

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) pays monthly benefits to workers who can no longer work because of a medical condition that is expected to last at least a year or result in death. The SSA's definition is strict: you must be unable to do the work you did before or adjust to other work, considering your age, education and experience. Partial or short-term disability is not covered.

To qualify, you need enough recent work credits, generally 40 credits with 20 earned in the 10 years before the disability began, with fewer required for younger workers. Benefits are calculated like a retirement benefit at full retirement age, without the early-claiming reduction. There is a five-month waiting period before payments begin, and Medicare coverage starts after 24 months of entitlement, sooner for ALS and end-stage renal disease. When an SSDI recipient reaches FRA, the benefit converts to a retirement benefit of the same amount.

Applications are decided by state Disability Determination Services using medical evidence. Many initial claims are denied, and applicants can request reconsideration and then a hearing before an administrative law judge. Recipients may test their ability to work through a trial work period without losing benefits, but earnings above the substantial gainful activity level, $1,620 a month in 2025 for non-blind people, can end eligibility. Family members, such as minor children, may also qualify for benefits on a disabled worker's record.

• Have a medical condition that meets the SSA's definition of disability.
• Have enough work credits, recent enough, for your age.
• Not be earning above the substantial gainful activity level.
• Expect the condition to last at least 12 months or to result in death.

Social Security for Spouses and Survivors

A spouse who has not worked or has low earnings can receive up to 50% of the worker's full benefit, reduced if the spouse claims before their own FRA. Spousal benefits do not grow with delayed retirement credits, so there is no gain in a spouse waiting past FRA. Divorced spouses can collect on an ex-spouse's record if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and they have not remarried. A spouse eligible for both their own benefit and a spousal benefit receives the higher of the two, not both.

When a worker dies, a surviving spouse at FRA can receive 100% of the deceased worker's benefit, including any delayed credits, or a reduced amount from age 60 (50 if disabled). Survivors caring for the worker's child under 16 can receive 75% at any age, and unmarried children under 18 (19 if still in high school) also qualify. A one-time lump-sum death payment of $255 goes to an eligible spouse or child. Because survivors inherit the larger of the couple's two benefits, the higher earner's claiming age is often the most important decision a married couple makes.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• SSA – Retirement benefits
• SSA – Starting your retirement benefits early
• SSA – Cost-of-Living Adjustment
• SSA – Disability benefits
• IRS – Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates