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Living on Social Security alone can be challenging for most people. However, people with higher incomes during their working years, as well as those who wait until age 70 to begin claiming, receive higher Social Security benefits.
At the 90th percentile, the monthly Social Security benefit for retired workers is about $3,050. By itself, this still may not be enough to support a truly comfortable lifestyle. But for married couples or partners with similar income histories, the math quickly changes.
If two retirees each receive about $3,000 a month, that’s about $6,000 in guaranteed income before even touching retirement savings. According to an Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) survey, only 3% of retirees spend $7,000 or more per month. This means a couple in this income range would need only modest withdrawals from their savings to join the highest-spending retirees.
However, spending and benefit levels change as retirees age. A closer look at what Social Security benefits and overall income might be for an upper-class retiree at age 83.
Calculating Social Security benefits for the average upper class at age 83
The Social Security Administration (SSA) shares data on average retiree worker benefits by age, as well as disaggregated data on benefit distribution at the 10th percentile, median, and 90th percentile. By combining these two datasets, we can estimate the average upper-class Social Security benefits at age 83.
First, compare the average Social Security benefit for people ages 80 to 89 — $1,939 — with the benefit received by those in the 90th percentile, which averages $2,849 per month. Although this figure includes a mix of benefit types, such as spousal benefits, it is close enough to the $3,050 monthly benefit received by retired workers at the 90th percentile of all ages to serve as a reasonable proxy for high-level retirement benefits.
At that level, the 90th-percentile benefit is about 46.9% higher than the average benefit for retirees ages 80 to 89, which shows how big the gap can be between normal and top-tier Social Security income later in life.
From there, we can look at separate SSA data that breaks down the average retiree benefit by age, which shows that an 83-year-old receives about $2,006 per month. So, applying the same 46.9% increase to the average benefit, the upper-class retiree gets about $2,947 per month.
It also tracks with an average of $2,849 for those in the 90th percentile aged 80–89, in the sense that the average benefit peaks for those aged 70 and then declines. So, an 83-year-old may earn slightly more than this average between 80-89, as those closer to 80 are likely to receive slightly more than those closer to 90. That’s not because Social Security benefits decline with age — in fact, they increase almost every year due to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) — but rather because average incomes have increased over time.
So, people claiming Social Security now in their 70s may have received higher wages during their peak working years than they did in the 80s or 90s. In other words, the later you are born, the higher your Social Security check will be, assuming you wait until age 70 to claim benefits, as this maximizes the amount Social Security will pay. However, there is no benefit in waiting until after age 70 to claim, as there is no increase in your basic benefit.
Making the Most of Your Social Security Benefits
Even if you’re in the high percentage of Social Security recipients, it’s still important to plan carefully for retirement and determine how to best use this income. And consider how Social Security benefits and other aspects of retirement planning can support what a fulfilling life looks like for you, rather than getting bogged down in income amounts.
Research from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has found that traditional financial measures — like income and net worth — are surprisingly poor predictors of how satisfied older adults feel with their lives.
This doesn’t mean that Social Security benefits and other retirement income are unimportant. Rather, what matters most is how those resources support a meaningful, fulfilling retirement—not just how big the numbers look on paper.