What is AIME and where do I find it?

AIME is your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings — Social Security indexes your highest 35 years of earnings to wage inflation, sums them, and divides by 420 months. Your annual Social Security Statement at ssa.gov shows your AIME or the earnings needed to compute it.

What is the PIA bend-point formula?

Your Primary Insurance Amount equals 90% of the first slice of AIME, 45% of the next slice, and 15% of the remainder. For people first eligible in 2025 the bend points are $1,226 and $7,391, so PIA = 0.9×first $1,226 + 0.45×($1,226 to $7,391) + 0.15×above $7,391.

How much does claiming at 62 reduce my benefit?

Claiming at 62 with a full retirement age of 67 permanently reduces your benefit by 30% — you receive 70% of your PIA. The reduction is 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months early and 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that.

How much extra do I get by waiting until 70?

Delayed retirement credits add 8% per year (2/3 of 1% per month) for each year you wait past full retirement age, up to age 70. With a full retirement age of 67, waiting until 70 raises your benefit to 124% of your PIA.

Is this an official Social Security estimate?

No. This is an unofficial estimate using the published bend-point and adjustment formulas. It assumes your AIME is final and does not model future cost-of-living adjustments, the earnings test, taxation of benefits, or spousal benefits. Use ssa.gov for your official record.

US Social Security Benefit Estimator

Deciding when to claim Social Security is one of the biggest retirement choices you’ll make, and it hinges on a single number: your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). This estimator computes your PIA from your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings using the official bend-point formula, then shows what you’d actually receive at 62, at full retirement age, and at 70.

How it works

Step 1 — PIA from AIME. Social Security applies three progressive bands (“bend points”). For people first eligible in 2025 the bend points are $1,226 and $7,391:

90% of AIME up to $1,226
plus 45% of AIME from $1,226 to $7,391
plus 15% of AIME above $7,391

The sum is your monthly PIA — the benefit you’d get at your full retirement age (FRA).

Step 2 — adjust for claiming age.

Age 62 (early): benefit is reduced — with an FRA of 67 you receive 70% of PIA (a 30% cut), because reduction is 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 early months and 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that.
Full retirement age (67 for 1960+): you receive exactly your PIA.
Age 70 (delayed): delayed retirement credits add 8% per year past FRA, so at 70 with FRA 67 you receive 124% of PIA.

Example

An AIME of $6,000: PIA = 0.9 × $1,226 + 0.45 × ($6,000 − $1,226) = $1,103 + $2,148 = $3,251 (rounded down to the nearest dime per SSA rules). At 62 that’s about $2,276; at 67 it’s $3,251; at 70 it’s about $4,031.

Notes

This is an unofficial planning estimate. It assumes a final AIME and does not apply cost-of-living adjustments, the retirement earnings test, benefit taxation, or spousal/survivor rules. Bend points are updated yearly. For your authoritative figures, use your statement at ssa.gov.