Why the $4,555 Maximum Social Security Benefit in 2023 Is a Fantasy
Social Security will get an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2023 due to 2022's high inflation, so retirees across the board can expect noteworthy increases in their monthly benefits. That includes even those former high-earners who now receive the largest possible Social Security benefit, which is expected to rise from $4,194 per month in 2022 to $4,555 per month next year.
That would be a tidy sum. But qualifying for the maximum Social Security is pretty much a fantasy.
In order to qualify for the maximum Social Security check, a person would need to do three things. The first is the easiest: You'd have to work for 35 years or more because of how the Social Security Administration calculates your benefits. It takes the 35 years during which you earned the most money on an inflation-adjusted basis and averages them together (again, compensating for inflation) to figure out your average yearly and monthly wages. The monthly figure is the one that your benefits will be based on.
Source Fool.com