Locator: 49095SOCIALSECURITY.
An aside: there was a report earlier today that social security payments might rise as much as 2.8% next year.
Monthly social security checks: average.
Where do you sit?
An eye-opening 56% of respondents in the 2025 Nationwide Retirement Institute's Social Security Survey say they wouldn't survive financially if they missed half of a Social Security payment.
An eye-opening 56% of respondents in the 2025 Nationwide Retirement Institute's Social Security Survey say they wouldn't survive financially if they missed half of a Social Security payment. [Not a full month, but one-half of one SS payment. One-half.]
So what are these benefits, exactly? Well, the overall average monthly Social Security benefit for retirees was $2,007 as of July — about $24,000 per year. Below are average monthly Social Security benefits for those who are 65 or other ages, as of the end of last year.
At the high end:
There is a maximum monthly Social Security retirement benefit, which was $5,108 for 2025 for those who delayed claiming until age 70. This top amount requires you to have earned the maximum taxable income for at least 35 years and to have also waited until age 70 to claim benefits, the age at which delayed retirement credits no longer increase your benefit amount.
