Social Security payments are adjusted every year to keep up with inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
The latest on Social Security includes an expected increase in benefits, up 1.3% in 2021. This translates to an average monthly retirement payment of $1,543 in 2021, a $20 increase from the 2020 level.
The maximum Social Security payment for a worker retiring at age 66 in 2021 will be $3,148, a $137 increase from $3,011 in 2020.
In order to solve the looming shortfall in Social Security funds, the full retirement age (FRA) began increasing by two months per year in 2017 from 66 years, and will continue to do so until it hits 67 years by 2022.
In 2020, the FRA increased to 66 years and 8 months. In 2021, the FRA is 66 years and 10 months. The Social Security taxable earnings base will rise from $137,700 in 2020 to $142,800 in 2021.
People under age 66 who get Social Security retirement or survivors benefits but are still working are subject to limits in the amount of money they can earn and still receive all their Social Security benefits.
That limit was $18,240 in 2020 and will be $18,960 in 2021. For every additional $2 a person earns over those limits, $1 is withheld from his or her monthly benefits.
Some little-known Social Security claiming strategies could help boost retirement income and have been well presented by Boston College in their Social Security Claiming Guide.
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