How much money do you expect to collect when you start receiving Social Security retirement benefits? If you're like the vast majority of people, you don't know that number off the top of your head. That's fine—unless you're budgeting for retirement.

To reach the maximum Social Security payout you generally need to earn at or above the program's taxable wage cap for 35 years so those top wages count in your benefit formula; that lifetime pattern is what separates maximum beneficiaries from typical retirees.

While it's impossible to know the exact amount, there is a lot of publicly available information about Social Security. Here's the maximum Social Security benefit at ages 62, 67, and 70.

The Social Security Administration announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026. That’s up a notch from 2.5% this year but in line with the 2.6% average over the past two decades.