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Think Beyond Social Security: A New Table to Review
James Brumley notes the average Social Security retirement benefit payment for 2024 is $1,907 a month. The Social Security Administration’s benefits calculator indicates that individuals now cashing monthly benefit checks around that figure probably earned inflation-adjusted income (in today’s dollars) of around $65k annually for at least 35 years. Of course, averages are funny things, as they don’t necessarily tell you everything you need to know. Some retirees garner monthly checks as large as $4,873 while others are collecting less than $300/mo. Brumley includes an important table in this piece showing the distribution of how many get how much. Since Social Security replaces a mere 40% of pre-retirement income, the author suggests a number of strategies from delaying beenfits to working longer to counteract this low figure. Full piece here.