What Is a Primary Insurance Amount? | The Motley Fool (2024)

The primary insurance amount is the monthly payment someone will receive from Social Security if they claim their benefit at full retirement age. The amount is based on past earnings, adjusted for inflation. The primary insurance amount is used to determine a claimant's monthly benefit based on the age at which they claim.

What Is a Primary Insurance Amount? | The Motley Fool (1)

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Definition

What is a primary insurance amount?

A primary insurance amount, or PIA, is the monthly Social Security benefit you'll receive at full retirement age.

The Social Security Administration uses a formula to determine an individual's primary insurance amount based on their past earnings. It indexes earnings for inflation and determines a percentage of your past earnings to pay out as a Social Security retirement benefit.

The PIA is used as the base benefit for calculating how much to pay if someone claims early or delays Social Security beyond full retirement age.

Formula

Primary insurance amount formula

The primary insurance amount formula first requires calculating the average indexed monthly earnings (AIME).

The AIME takes the average of a person's 35 highest-earning years adjusted for inflation and divides by 12, the number of months in a year. The inflation index is based on the national average salary from two years prior.

After calculating the AIME, the primary insurance amount is based on a percentage of the AIME based on two "bend points." The calculation takes the sum of the following:

  • 90% of AIME up to the first bend point.
  • 32% of AIME between the bend points.
  • 15% of AIME above the second bend point.

For 2023, the bend points are $1,115 and $6,721.

The amount is then rounded down to the next $0.10 to determine the primary insurance amount.

Maximizing the amount

Maximizing the primary insurance amount

Maximizing the primary insurance amount requires earning a high income for 35 years during your career.

There's a maximum amount of income that pays Social Security tax. The amount changes every year, adjusting for inflation. For 2023, the maximum is $160,200 in taxable wages.

Since the AIME is based on your top 35 years of earnings, it'll require you to reach a highly paid position relatively early in life and continue working for a long time.

The maximum primary insurance amount in 2023 is $3,627.

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Example

Example of the primary insurance amount

If you've reached all the qualifications to claim Social Security benefits, you'll be interested in determining your primary insurance amount.

The first step is gathering an earnings history. Anyone can view their Social Security statement online by setting up an account with the Social Security Administration. Once you've established an account, you can view your entire earnings record.

Take your annual wages and multiply them by the percentage increase in the average wage index since the year they were earned. The SSA provides that data on its website.

Then, select the 35 highest-earning years, add them together, and divide by 420 (the number of months in 35 years). If you don't have 35 years of earnings, add all your earnings and divide by 420.

That's your AIME. Let's say your AIME came out to be $7,000.

The next step is to calculate the primary insurance amount.

Use the bend points to make the calculation. So, in this example, you'll take 90% of $1,115 (the first bend point in 2023) plus 32% of $5,606 (the difference between the bend points) and 15% of $279, the amount above the second bend point. The sum total is $2,839.27. You round that down to $2,839.20 to get your primary insurance amount.

You can also use the tools on the Social Security Administration's website to determine your PIA, but understanding the factors that go into it and how it's calculated can help you make better decisions on how long to work and when to claim Social Security.

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What Is a Primary Insurance Amount? | The Motley Fool (2024)

FAQs

What Is a Primary Insurance Amount? | The Motley Fool? ›

The primary insurance amount is the monthly payment someone will receive from Social Security if they claim their benefit at full retirement age.

What does primary insurance amount mean? ›

The "Primary Insurance Amount" (PIA) is the benefit (before rounding down to next lower whole dollar) a person would receive if they elected to begin receiving retirement benefits at their normal retirement age.

What is the primary amount of insurance? ›

The primary insurance amount (PIA) is the amount of Social Security benefits paid to a retiree at full retirement age. The average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) must first be calculated before the PIA can be determined.

Why are Americans getting $4800 in Social Security? ›

It is estimated that the $4,800 Social Security Payment is due to go out as a result of the growing cost of living adjustment as well as inflation. This is because those with low earnings, retirees, and those with disabilities have difficulty controlling their federal costs.

How do I get the $16728 Social Security bonus? ›

Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.

What would be considered primary insurance? ›

Primary insurance is health insurance that pays first on a claim for medical and hospital care. In most cases, Medicare is your primary insurer. See also: Secondary Insurance.

How do you figure out primary insurance? ›

How do you determine which health insurance is primary? Determining which health plan is primary is straightforward: “If you are covered under an employer-based plan, that is primary,” Mordo says. If you also were covered under a spouse's plan, that would be secondary, he adds.

What does it mean for an insurance policy to be primary? ›

An insurance policy with a primary endorsem*nt means it will ultimately be the main source to cover a loss. In the event of a claim, the party with the primary endorsem*nt will be responsible for responding first, before any other applicable insurance.

What is the primary limit in insurance? ›

Each primary policy has a limit imposed on the amount of coverage available and normally sets deductible limits for the customer. Primary policies pay out against claims regardless of whether there are additional outstanding policies covering the same risk.

What is primary use in insurance? ›

Choose your vehicle's primary use based on how it will be used most frequently. In most cases, “Commute” is the best answer. Select "Commute" if you will regularly drive to work or school.

What is the average Social Security check for a 67 year old? ›

According to the SSA's Office of the Actuary, retired-worker beneficiaries who were 62 years old in December 2023 received an average check of $1,298.26. As for 67-year-old retired-worker beneficiaries, the average payout was a more robust $1,883.50.

At what age do you get 100% of your Social Security? ›

The full retirement age is 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954. The full retirement age increases gradually if you were born from 1955 to 1960 until it reaches 67. For anyone born 1960 or later, full retirement benefits are payable at age 67.

How much does the average American get in Social Security? ›

As of 2022, the median household income in the U.S. was $74,580, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Assuming a middle-class retiree earned this salary and retired at age 65 — specifically 65 and 11 months — their Social Security benefit would be $1,867 per month.

When my husband dies, do I get his Social Security and mine? ›

In many cases, a surviving spouse can begin receiving 1 benefit at a reduced rate and allow the other benefit amount to increase. If you will also receive a pension based on work not covered by Social Security, such as government or foreign work, your Social Security benefits as a survivor may be affected.

What is the 10 year rule for Social Security? ›

If you've worked and paid Social Security taxes for 10 years or more, you'll get a monthly benefit based on that work.

At what age is Social Security no longer taxed? ›

Social Security income can be taxable no matter how old you are. It all depends on whether your total combined income exceeds a certain level set for your filing status. You may have heard that Social Security income is not taxed after age 70; this is false.

What does primary insured mean in insurance? ›

A person who fills out and signs a request for insurance coverage is usually referred to as the primary insured or applicant. This person is generally the intended policyowner and is listed as applicant on the premium due page after a policy is issued.

What is meant by the term "primary policy"? ›

The primary policy refers to the main approach or strategy adopted by a country or government to address a particular issue or achieve specific goals.

What is the primary term insurance? ›

"Term Insurance is pure protection, like fire insurance or auto insurance, its sole function is to support your family if you die. You can buy large amounts of coverage for modest amount of money – and big policies are what your spouse and children need."

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