Wednesday May 16th, 2012

Social Security Benefits Calculator

Do you wonder how much you might receive in Social Security? Use this calculator to help you estimate your Social Security benefits. Remember, this is only an estimate. Your actual benefits may vary depending on your actual work history and income.

Social Security Benefits

Social Security may provide SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_AMT per year.

**GRAPH**

If you start collecting your Social Security benefits at age SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_AGE, Social Security may provide SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_AMT per year which is SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_AMT_MONTHLY per month. This is SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_PERCENT of your final year's income of HOUSEHOLD_INCOME_AT_RETIRE. Remember, this is only an estimate. Your actual benefit may be higher or lower depending on your work history and the complete compensation rules used by Social Security.

Results Summary
Current age	CURRENT_AGE
Household income	HOUSEHOLD_INCOME
Expected salary increase	SALARY_PERCENT per year
Inflation rate	INFLATION_RATE
Are you married?	MARRIED
Age to begin benefits	AGE_OF_RETIREMENT
Household Income at age AGE_OF_RETIREMENT	HOUSEHOLD_INCOME_AT_RETIRE
Estimated benefit	SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_AMT per year SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_AMT_MONTHLY per month
Estimated percent of income	SOCIAL_AT_RETIRE_PERCENT

What if I begin benefits at a different age?

You are eligible to receive your full Social Security benefits at age SOCIAL_FULL_BENEFIT_AGE. But you can start receiving Social Security benefits as early as age 62. You can also delay your benefits until age 70. The Social Security Administration attempts to keep your lifetime benefit equal regardless of the age you begin taking benefits. Take a look at the chart below to see how this can affect your monthly benefit.

**REPEATING GROUP**

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Definitions

Social Security income
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 increases each year based on increases in the Consumer Price Index. Including a spouse increases your Social Security benefits by 1.5 times your individual estimated benefit. Please note that this calculator assumes that only one of the spouses work. Benefits could be different if your spouse worked and earned a benefit higher than one half of your benefit. If you are a married couple, and both spouses work, you may need to run the calculation twice - once for each spouse and their respective income. This calculator provides only an estimate of your benefits.

The calculations use the 2009 FICA income limit of $106,800 with an annual maximum Social Security benefit of $27,876 per year for a single person and 1.5 times this amount for a married couple. To receive the maximum benefit would require earning the maximum FICA salary for nearly your entire career. You would also need to begin receiving benefits at your full retirement age of 66 or 67 (depending on your birthdate). Your actual benefit may be lower or higher depending on your work history and the complete compensation rules used by Social Security.

Current age
Your current age.

Age of retirement
Age you desire to retire.

Household income
Your total household income. If you are married, this should include your spouse's income.

Expected salary increase
Annual percent increase you expect in your household income.

Expected rate of inflation
What you expect for the average long-term inflation rate. A common measure of inflation in the U.S. is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which has a long-term average of 3.1% annually, from 1925 through 2008. The CPI for 2008 was 4.0%, as reported by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.

Are you married?
Check this box if you are married. Married couples have a higher maximum Social Security benefit than single wage earners.