Social Security plays a major role in financing the retirement of millions of Americans. After years of paying Social Security taxes, it’s a good financial safety net in retirement when sources of income may be more limited than during your working years.

Given the importance Social security For many, it makes sense that you want to maximize your monthly benefit as much as possible. In 2025, the maximum monthly Social Security benefit is $5,108. If this appeals to you and you want to aim to receive the maximum benefits, there are two things you need to ensure in 2025.

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You will need to earn a salary above the salary base limit

Most Americans pay Social Security payroll taxes on all their earned income up to a certain annual ceiling, called the “salary base ceiling”. Income earned above the base salary limit is not subject to Social Security payroll taxes and therefore is also not taken into account when calculating monthly benefits.

The salary base limit is important because you have to earn at least this amount over the 35 years that Social Security will use to calculate your monthly benefit.

The wage base limit in 2025 is $176,100, so if 2025 is one of the years used to determine your monthly Social Security benefit, that’s the minimum amount you can earn and still be eligible for the monthly benefit maximum. Earning anything below that amount – even $176,099 – would prevent you from receiving the maximum.

There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, the base salary cap is increased each year. Below are the final 10 salary base limits:

Data source: Social Security Administration.

If any of the years above are used in calculating your benefits, these are the minimum amounts you must have earned in those years.

You will have to delay benefits for as long as possible

The earnings part is part of the equation for receiving the maximum benefit. The other part is to delay your benefits until you reach age 70.

Your full retirement age (FRA) is when you are eligible to receive your primary insurance amount (PIA), which you can consider as your basic monthly benefit. Social Security uses your PIA to determine your monthly benefit depending on whether you apply before or after your FRA.

If you delay your benefits beyond your FRA, the monthly amount you will receive is increased by 2/3 of 1% each month until you reach age 70. This equates to 8% per year and a total increase of about 24% if your FRA is 67 (which is what most new applicants do). Below are the FRAs by year of birth:

Your monthly benefit is no longer increased after age 70, so this is realistically the last time you should apply for benefits.

Even if you are able to earn more than the basic salary limit for 35 years, filing for benefits before age 70 would prevent you from receiving the maximum benefit. You must meet the income requirement And delay benefits until age 70. You can’t do one without the other.

It is generally easier to delay benefits between the two requirements. It’s much easier to simply not claim benefits than to earn a salary above the base salary cap for 35 years.

For comparison, Social Security says only 6% of people earn more than the base salary limit each year, and only about 20% are expected to earn above it at any point in their career. If you don’t meet the requirements, don’t feel bad; only a small number of people are eligible each year.