In 2022, Social Security benefits will increase by 5.9%. This is the largest cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security in nearly 40 years. The program will also be changed in many key ways that could influence the amount of money you receive from Social Security or even how much individuals contribute to the economy.
Increase In Social Security Payments
As a consequence of the cost-of-living adjustment, the average Social Security payment for retired workers is estimated to increase by $92 per month to $1,657 per month. In 2022, married couples who both get benefits will see an increase of $154 each month, to an average payout of $2,753. Part of your cost-of-living adjustment, on the other hand, may be used to cover Medicare premiums.
In 2022, the maximum Social Security payout for someone retiring at mandatory retirement age would be $3,345 compared to $3,345 in 2021.
The Consumer Price Index for Clerical Workers & Urban Wage Earners is used to modify Social Security payments each year to keep up with inflation.
Social Security Tax Cap
Until their earnings surpass the taxable ceiling, workers pay 6.2 percent of their incomes further into the Social Security system. “The maximum pay subject to the Social Security levy will rise,” says Jim Blair, an erstwhile Social Security administrator & chief consultant with Cincinnati-based Premier Social Security Consulting. In 2022, the highest limit of earnings due to taxes will rise to $147,000, an increase of $4,200.
All who make well over $147,000 in 2022 would see an increase in their paychecks after their wages exceed the taxable threshold and Social Security tax is no longer deducted from their pay. Earnings in excess of this level will not be taken into account for calculating future Social Security benefits.
Full Retirement Age For Social Security
In order to obtain their full retirement payment, people turning 62 in 2022 will have to wait till they reach an older age of retirement than current Social Security beneficiaries. People born in 1960 can retire at the age of 67, two months earlier than those born in 1959, who can retire at the age of 66 and ten months. For individuals born between 1955 and 1959, the full retirement age rises in two-month increments until it reaches 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
Workers who file for Social Security benefits before reaching mandatory retirement age receive lower compensation, and those who retire later receive even lower payments. “This is the first batch of pensioners who’d have an age of retirement of 67, which implies that retiring at age 62 will result in a 30 percent reduction in the full pensionable age benefit amount,” says Jim Blankenship, a financial planner & writer of “A Social Security Owner’s Manual.” Those who reach full retirement age later have fewer options for increasing their Social Security benefits through delayed claiming, reports Investopedia.com
