Ah, 1975. You may or may not remember much from that year, but it was when Gerald Ford was U.S. president, Saturday Night Live premiered on TV, and the Vietnam War ended. People were wearing bell-bottom pants and dancing to disco music, and a new home cost around $40,000, on average. The median family income back then was only $13,720.
And how about Social Security for those who were retired back then? Well, the average retirement benefit was just $207 — roughly $2,500 annually.
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That’s not quite as terrible as it sounds, because a half gallon of milk cost $0.79 and coffee cost $1.33 per pound. Still, the disconnect between the incomes of working people and retirees was stark — and it still is. Check out the table below, showing how average Social Security benefits have changed over time:
|
Year |
Average Monthly Social Security Benefit for Retirees |
|---|---|
|
1975 |
$207 |
|
1980 |
$341 |
|
1985 |
$479 |
|
1990 |
$603 |
|
1995 |
$720 |
|
2000 |
$844 |
|
2005 |
$1,002 |
|
2010 |
$1,176 |
|
2015 |
$1,342 |
|
2020 |
$1,544 |
|
2025 |
$1,975* |
Source: Data source: Social Security Administration, 2023 Annual Statistical Supplement.
*As of December 2024.
The most recent average monthly benefit of $1,975 amounts to around $23,700 — which is a hard sum to live off of. If that’s way less than you were expecting, know these things:
- Those with above-average earnings will collect above-average Social Security benefits.
- Benefits are increased in most years via cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs).
- If you set up a my Social Security account, you’ll be able to see estimates of your future benefits based on your earnings history.
- There are multiple ways to increase your benefits if you haven’t claimed them yet — such as increasing your income as much as you can while you’re working and delaying starting to collect them — until age 70, if possible. (For most of us, the best strategy is to wait until age 70.)
For best results, aim to have multiple income streams in retirement.
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