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Earning the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit
For 2026, the highest possible monthly retirement benefit available will be $5,251 after application of the annual cost-of-living adjustment. Sounds like a lot, of course, and many folks wonder how to go about setting themselves up to collect that size benefit in their retirement years. Spoiler alert: It isn’t easy, and very, very few retirees reach that level. It takes a lifetime of earnings at the maximum taxable level, as well as the ability to defer claiming until the delayed retirement credits are added to the base benefit amount. A Yahoo!Finance post by The Motley Fool’s Christy Bieber provides commentary on the maximum benefit issue. Check it out here.