The Social Security Administration has announced the 2025 final COLA, wage cap, and amount needed to earn SS credits.
Anticipating changes coming to Social Security in 2025 can help you start planning for the new year and identify any adjustments you can make to maximize your eligibility for the most benefits.
People who think these changes only impact retirees would be wrong. Current workers need to keep an eye on accumulating enough Social Security credits and understand how much of their wages will be subject to the 6.2% Social Security tax.
The Social Security annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025 is 2.5%, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced recently. This is the smallest increase since 2020, as expected, and follows an increase of 3.2% in 2024.
According to the SSA, the 2.5% increase will translate to an additional $49 for the average retiree, increasing the average monthly check from $1,927 to $1,976. Married couples will see an average increase of $75, raising their monthly benefit to $3,089 up from $3,014.
The COLA for 2025 is 2.5%. The final number is based on the July, August and September CPI numbers. These three sets of numbers are used by the SSA to determine the annual COLA.
Keep in mind that while a lower inflation rate should lead to a smaller increase in prices, it does nothing to lower the current prices for groceries, utilities or housing that many are struggling to meet.
Retirees will have to wait a little longer to reach their full retirement age (FRA) in 2025. The full retirement age is increasing gradually if you were born from 1955 to 1960, until it gets up to 67.
In 2025, the full retirement age will be 66 years and 10 months. For those who turned 66 in 2024, FRA is 66 years and eight months.
Here is when you will reach your FRA, by birth year:
If you retire at age 62, the earliest possible Social Security retirement age, your benefit will be lower than if you wait till your FRA. The more months remaining between age 62 and your FRA, the more your monthly payments will be reduced.
Early retirement will reduce your benefits by 5/9 of one percent for each month before normal retirement age, up to 36 months. If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced by 5/12 of one percent per month.
If you choose to continue working beyond your full retirement age and delay applying for benefits, you can increase future Social Security benefits in two ways: Each extra year you work adds another year of earnings to your Social Security record, and higher lifetime earnings can mean higher benefits when you retire.
Benefits will increase from the time you reach full retirement age until you start to receive benefits, or until you reach age 70. For each full year you delay receiving Social Security benefits beyond full retirement age, 8% is added to your benefit.
In 2025, you’ll have to earn more to qualify for Social Security credits, and the wage cap for Social Security taxes will increase.
Social Security credits. You must earn a minimum number of Social Security credits to qualify for retirement benefits. The Social Security Administration cannot pay you benefits if you don’t have enough credits. You must earn 40 work credits to become eligible for benefits, and you are allowed to earn up to four credits per year.
The SSA also uses the number of credits you’ve earned to determine your eligibility for retirement or disability benefits, Medicare, and your family’s eligibility for survivor benefits.
To earn one credit in 2025, you must have wages and self-employment income of $1,810, and you must earn $7,240 to get four full credits. This amount increases annually, so it will rise in 2026. In 2024, you only needed to earn $1,730 to earn a credit, $80 less than what you need to earn in 2025.
Once you earn the 40 credits, earning more credits won’t increase your benefit payment. Instead, your retirement benefit is based on how much you earned during your working years.
Wage cap. Social Security caps the amount of income you pay taxes on and get credit for when benefits are calculated. The Social Security tax limit in 2025 is $176,100, up $7,500 from $168,600 in 2024. The tax limit is indexed to inflation and is therefore estimated to rise in 2026.
In 2024, the wage cap rose by $8,400 to $168,600 from $160,200 the previous year.
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/social-security/changes-coming-for-social-security-in-2025
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