In 2026, Social Security benefits will be capped at $5,181 per month. While most people don’t get that much money, those who hit the average salary cap and collect benefits at age 70 can get up to $63,000 in annual payments from the Social Security Administration to fund their retirement.
The maximum benefit increases most years, so for those planning ahead for the future, it might be interesting to estimate the maximum benefit amount in 2035.
Social Security benefits increase over time due to inflation and rising wages.
In most years, current retirees receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) based on the rate of inflation. COLA is calculated based on year-over-year changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Because wages naturally increase over time, future retirees will typically leave the workforce with higher average wages than in the past, so they may also receive higher initial benefits.
So, what are the maximum benefits likely to be in 2035? It all depends on how quickly prices and wages rise. However, there are several ways to estimate future earnings. For example:
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The Fed’s target inflation rate is 2%. If annual inflation is 2% over the next decade, the maximum benefit would be about $6,227 by 2035.
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The average social security cost-of-living adjustment rate over the past ten years was 2.83%. If retirees receive a 2.83% annual raise over the next ten years, they believe their maximum benefit over ten years will be about $6,275.
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If inflation is higher than expected, and we expect inflation to be 4% per year over the next 10 years, the maximum benefit will be approximately $6,349.
Clearly, higher inflation levels will result in larger maximum Social Security benefits. However, this is not necessarily a good thing, as seniors tend to suffer when inflation spikes as their conservative portfolios tend to lose purchasing power.
There’s one more important thing to consider when estimating your maximum future earnings, and it may not be on your radar, but it should be.
