Social Security’s maximum benefit increases in 2025. Here’s exactly how to claim it.

The Social Security Administration recently announced the upcoming 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and with it comes a number of changes that will take effect next year.

One of these changes is the maximum benefit amount. Starting in 2025, the most you can receive from Social Security is $5,108 a month, up from $4,873 a month in 2024. It’s also significantly higher than the average benefit among retired workers, which is about $1,922 a month in September 2024.

There are several requirements you must meet to earn the maximum payouts, and here’s exactly what it takes to get your hands on those checks.

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1. Make sure you’ve worked long enough

You generally only need to work and pay Social Security taxes for 10 years to qualify for retirement benefits. However, if you want to maximize your benefit amount, you must work for at least 35 years before claiming.

Your benefit is based on an average of your earnings over the 35 years of your highest earning career. There are some other calculations involved in the process, such as adjusting your salary for inflation, but in general, the longer you work, the higher your benefit can be.

If you apply for Social Security after working less than 35 full years, you will have zeros included in your average for each month you did not earn income. That will reduce your benefit and make it impossible to reach the monthly maximum of $5,108.

2. Postpone benefits as long as you can

Your earnings history will determine your primary insurance amount, which is how much you will receive at your full retirement age (FRA). Your FRA depends on your year of birth, but it is 67 years old for anyone born in 1960 or later.

Waiting until your FRA to file will give you 100% of your earned benefit, but to get the most out of your payments, you’ll need to wait a few more years and file at age 70. Although you technically seen can claim benefits after 70, your payments will not continue to increase beyond that age.

If you were to file at age 67, the maximum possible benefit in 2025 would be only $4,043 per year. month. While that’s still a sizable amount, it’s a full $1,065 a month less than what you’d receive by simply waiting three more years to file.

3. Aim for the earnings limit

The final factor in determining your benefit is your income – specifically how close you are to the maximum taxable income limit.

Each year the government sets a limit on how much of your earnings can be taxed for social security purposes. The closer your income is to this limit, the higher your benefit will be. Once you exceed the cap, that income will not be subject to Social Security taxes, but it will also not be included in your benefit calculations.

Starting in 2025, the maximum taxable earnings limit will be $176,100 per year — up from $168,600 per year in 2024. For context, if you began your career 35 years ago in 1990, the limit that year was $51,300 per year. To gain the maximum benefit, you must have consistently reached these limits throughout your career.

Whether you can hit these benchmarks or not, taking small steps towards increasing your advantage can go a long way. By extending your career by a year or two, delaying benefits a bit, and doing your best to increase your income, these factors can add up to a larger monthly payment when you retire.