Social Security Benefits Calculator

Working hard during our adult years gives us many benefits to look forward to, and one of those is our Social Security Benefit. Social Security is based on a sliding scale depending on your income, how long you work and at what age you retire. Social Security benefits automatically increase each year based on increases in the Consumer Price Index.

Why Use The Social Security Benefits Calculator?

Thinking ahead is important. Research and careful planning are vital tools at our disposal while we prepare to enjoy a well-earned retirement. After all, your retirement years are an excellent time to do all of the amazing things you never got the chance to do before. What better way to ensure you are able to take advantage of this than by being as informed as possible about your future financial situation?

This Social Security Benefits Calculator is able to give you an estimate of what you can potentially look forward to receiving in social security benefits. All you need to do is input some basic information and the calculator will give you estimated figures based on these figures. Please note, the calculator makes the assumption that you have enough credits to qualify.

Another highly useful feature of the Social Security Benefits Calculator is the ability to see what your monthly and yearly amounts will be depending on the age you retire. Simply click View Report and scroll down, after putting all of your information into the calculator. You may be surprised to see how much more per month you can expect to receive if you work for 2 or 3 extra years!

How To Use The Social Security Benefits Calculator

Not sure where to start? Let us help you:

  1. Input your current age and the age you expect to retire, either by typing directly into the white boxes or by using the sliders
  2. Add your current annual income and the average percentage by which you expect it to increase throughout your working life
  3. Unless you know otherwise, leave the Expected Rate of Inflation box as it is
  4. If you are married, and your partner does not work, tick the box to indicate this.
  5. If on the other hand your spouse does work, they will be entitled to their own Social Security Benefit. To get an accurate picture of your joint situation, it is best if you calculate your benefits separately and add them together afterwards.
  6. Click Calculate and you will see your result – for example “Social Security may provide $21,000.”

Who is this Calculator for?

This calculator is most useful if you:

  • Would like to know whether your current salary is sufficient to support your lifestyle after you retire
  • Are thinking about potential retirement ages and would like to know how that will affect your post-retirement benefits
  • Are looking to purchase or refinance a home and want to be as informed as possible about your future financial situation

What if I don’t know my expected salary increase?

Generally, our salaries increase steadily as we progress through our working lives, adapting to ever-changing needs. Typically, many people can expect a 2% increase averaged out over their career. If you believe that this does not apply to you, or you would just not like to count on it, you can just type 0% for this box, or a smaller amount such as 1%. The intention of the Social Security Benefits Calculator is simply to provide an estimate, so you can afford to be slightly incorrect.

Why is my Social Security Benefit much higher when I tick the ‘Married’ box?

Including a spouse increases your Social Security Benefits by 1.5 times your individual estimated benefit. Or to put it another way, it gives you an extra 50% on top of what you would normally receive. This is to support people whose spouses do not work and therefore have no Social Security Benefit of their own.

If your spouse does work, they will be collecting their own Social Security Benefits post-retirement, so do not check the Married box in this case. You will need to run the calculator separately for their income in order to ascertain your total.