Personal Finance

If you want get the receive the largest Social Security possible, this is what you need to earn during your career

David Beren

Published: November 6, 2024 9:30 am

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• Doing whatever you can to earn maximum Social Security payments is critical. 
• You can delay filing for your benefit until 70 to boost overall Social Security payments. 
• The 2024 wage gap limit in 2024 will rise in 2025. 
• Also: Are You On Track to Retire? Take This Quiz and Find Out ^(Sponsored) 

In the grand scheme of Social Security, it’s easy to recognize that you must earn enough over a set period to get the maximum payment amount. As many people rely heavily on social security to live a steady lifestyle during their golden years, understanding what this income number should be is a great goal to ensure you can receive a large social security check later in life. 

What Is the Maximum Payment? 

If you’re asking what the maximum payment for social security is in 2024, the answer is easy. For someone who files at their full retirement age or 66-67 years old, the maximum benefit is $3,822 per month. 

If you defer payments until 70, the maximum payment jumps to $4,873. On the flip side, if you retire at 62 in 2024, your maximum payment would only be $2,710, so there is plenty to consider as the amount of money varies considerably based on when you decide to retire. 

2024 Social Security Income

The federal government limits the amount of income subject to taxation for anyone who wants to earn the absolute maximum amount of Social Security later in life. This amount will be $168,600 in 2024. This means the maximum amount you can tax an employee for SS in 2024 is approximately $10,453.20. As the Social Security tax rate rarely changes, employees have been paying 6.2% since 1990. 

Alternatively, the federal government increased the Social Security income tax limit 17 times between 2005 and 2025. For example, in 2022, the limit was only $147,000, and then it was raised to $163,000 in 2023. 

2025 Social Security Income

As noted above, the Social Security tax limit has changed several times and is set to change again in 2025. The 2025 wage gap is going up to $176,100 from $168,100 in 2024. This means you can expect to pay the 2025 Social Security maximum tax of $10,918. 

How Are Social Security Benefits Calculated? 

The government uses a formula to calculate your Social Security payment and determine if you have earned the maximum payment. The formula is pretty simple: the Social Security Administration takes 35 high-earning years after you turn 21 to calculate your average indexed monthly earnings. It’s important to note that you will only get credit for earnings up to the Social Security wage base of $168,100 in 2024. Anything over that is irrelevant. So, if you are earning $300,000 annually, only $168,100 is considered for Social Security. 

Should you have less than 35 years of employment after 21 and before you retire, the Social Security Administration calculates earnings for any missing years at $0. There is no question that any such scenario would negatively impact your potential monthly earnings when you hit Full Retirement Age. 

Also worth considering is that any income earned during the year is indexed for inflation, which should help if you are close to the wage gap limit but don’t hit it on the nose every year.