Personal Finance

How Big is President Trump’s Social Security Check?

Christy Bieber

Published: January 10, 2025 9:10 am

When President Trump takes office, he’ll earn a salary of $400,000 annually from the government.  The President will likely donate his salary as he did during his first term, as he doesn’t exactly need the money with an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion.

President Trump will also have another income source as well. Since he is 78 years old, he will receive Social Security benefits.  As a billionaire who earned a substantial income during his career, you might expect those benefits to be very substantial. But, is that really the case?

Here’s how much money Social Security will pay President Trump

President Trump has not released his tax returns, so there’s theoretically no way to determine exactly how much he will collect in Social Security. However, due to the substantial income he received during his lifetime, he almost assuredly will be receiving the maximum benefit. That amount is $5,108.

The only way President Trump’s benefit would be below this amount, based on his likely past earnings, is if he claimed Social Security prior to the age of 70. However, given that he’s unlikely to have needed his benefits to pay the bills, the most likely assumption is that he waited until 70 to start collecting his payments since that would allow him to get the largest monthly income.

The reason his payment would be smaller if he claimed earlier is because of the way Social Security is structured. You can get benefits starting at 62, but for each year you wait, you receive a larger benefit until age 70. A system of early filing penalties and delayed retirement credit is in place that results in benefits increasing over time since the goal is to ensure you get the same lifetime benefits whether you start them early or late. You simply choose between fewer big checks if you wait or more smaller checks if you claim early.

For most people, claiming at 70 is the best move to maximize lifetime benefits, and with the President not needing the money, there’s every reason to believe he took this path.

Why isn’t President Trump’s Social Security check higher?

A $5,108 monthly benefit is much more money than most retirees will get from Social Security, but it is probably not as high as you might think, given the President’s substantial earnings. After all, benefits are based on the amount you made over your 35 highest earning years, and the general rule of thumb is that Social Security replaces 40% of pre-retirement income.

This is just a general rule, though, and there’s a big catch. Your benefits are based on average earnings up to a wage base limit. This is a maximum limit set each year. Any income you earn above it is not subject to Social Security tax and doesn’t count in calculating your benefits.

The limit exists precisely because of people like President Trump. The government doesn’t want to pay huge  Social Security checks to billionaires, so a cap is in place to ensure benefits don’t go above a certain level.

Those who earn the maximum taxable income for 35 years and who claim benefits at 70 are eligible for the highest possible check each year — which is that $5,108 amount in 2025that President Trump is likely collecting.  Since the maximum taxable income is $176,100 in 2025 and was the inflation-adjusted equivalent of that amount in year’s past, not many people actually max out their benefits.

The President, however, is probably someone who did, which is why we can guess with reasonable certainty how big his Social Security check will be.