Social Security Benefit for Age 65: For those who meet the requirements, Social Security benefits can begin as early as age 62 or as late as age 70. However, the government determines that your “full retirement age” will vary based on your birth year and will typically lie between 66 and 67. Furthermore, a lot of Americans actually decide to start collecting Social Security benefits before they reach full retirement age.
It makes logical that 65 is one of the most popular ages to begin receiving Social Security benefits. It is, after all, the earliest age at which many people may retire without worrying about acquiring health insurance, as it is also the age at which they become eligible for Medicare.
In light of this, 1.4 million 65-year-olds are eligible for Social Security payments as retired workers. The average benefit they get is listed below, along with information about other Social Security payments and the average benefit of retired workers at different ages.
Social Security Benefit for Age 65
As of December 2022, the average 65-year-old retired worker who collected Social Security was receiving a $1,505 monthly benefit, according to the 2023 Social Security Annual Statistical Supplement.
Undoubtedly, since then, there have been considerable cost-of-living adjustments. We do know that beneficiaries received an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment for 2023, which would have translated to an average benefit of roughly $1,636 per month for the average 65-year-old beneficiary at the end of 2023. However, we won’t have access to newer data for some time (the annual statistical supplement is published in November).
In addition, claimants will receive an extra 3.2% rise for 2024 beginning this month, bringing the average benefit for a 65-year-old to around $1,688 per month.
Social Security will no longer be taxed in these two states in 2024
Additional Social Security payments
The Social Security programme offers payments to retired workers, but it offers much more than that. These are the average benefits received by various beneficiary types at 65. (Everything is based on December 2022 data.)
- At age 65, a disabled worker typically receives a monthly compensation of $1,653. A disabled worker’s benefit becomes a regular retired worker’s benefit after they reach full retirement age.
- The average monthly spousal benefit at age 65 is $662. The purpose of spousal benefits is to give retirement income to spouses who, throughout their working lifetimes, either did not work or made less money than their spouses.
- Retired workers’ minor children are also eligible for benefits. No one in this group is 65, yet the average monthly benefit given to a kid is $786.
Key Takeaways
The data highlights a few key conclusions. First of all, you’ll see that the typical woman’s benefit as a retired worker is far lower than the average man’s benefit at any age. For a few different reasons.
First, one persistent element that still exists is the gender pay disparity. The U.S. Department of Labour estimates that the average woman doing a full-time job earns around 84% of what an average man does. While the figures are undoubtedly heading in the right direction—just two years ago, women earned 81% of what men did—clearly more work has to be done. Second, after having children, women are statistically more likely to take long stretches of unpaid leave or to work part-time jobs. These factors can have a big effect since your Social Security payout is determined by your salary during your 35 highest-earning years.
The variations in advantages with age—particularly between 65 and 67—should also be noted. Compared to the typical 65-year-old, the average 67-year-old receives about 23% more from Social Security. Even though these are only averages and every circumstance is unique, the idea is that delaying filing for benefits by a year or two—or even a few months—can have a significant influence on this inflation-protected source of retirement income.