Step-by-Step Guide to Estimate Your Social Security Benefits in 2025

Jeremy Keil explains the complete process of accessing and estimating your Social Security benefit.

Many people rely on the estimates provided by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to figure out what their Social Security benefit is projected to be, but what if those numbers don’t match up with your actual retirement plans? If you want the most accurate estimate, you need to take a closer look at how your benefits are calculated and make adjustments based on your own situation.

Why the SSA Estimates Might Be Wrong

The SSA provides an estimate of your benefits based on two major assumptions:

1. You will continue earning the same income you earned last year, all the way until retirement.
2. You will retire at a specific age, typically your full retirement age (FRA).

For most people, these assumptions don’t hold up. Many plan to stop working before FRA, work part-time, or have fluctuating incomes. This means that the estimates you see on your Social Security statement may be significantly different from what you will actually receive.

Step-by-Step: Getting an Accurate Estimate

To find out what you can truly expect from Social Security, follow these steps:

1. Log into Your Social Security Account

Head to SSA.gov and sign into your account. Once logged in, navigate to your Social Security statement, where you’ll find your estimated benefits based on the SSA’s assumptions.

2. Use the Retirement Calculator

Instead of relying solely on your statement, scroll down and use the SSA’s Retirement Calculator. This tool allows you to adjust your future earnings and retirement age to get a more accurate benefit estimate.

3. Set Future Earnings to Zero

One of the best ways to get a realistic number is to assume zero future earnings—meaning, you stop working today. This shows you what benefits you’ve already earned. Many people are surprised to see that the majority of their projected benefit is already locked in.

For example, if your SSA statement estimates $2,500 per month at FRA but your vested amount (benefits based on work already completed) is $2,100, that means 84% of your benefits are already earned. The extra $400 per month comes from additional years of work, helping you decide whether continuing employment is worth it.

4. Adjust for Part-Time Work or Lower Earnings

If you plan to work part-time or earn less than before, adjust the calculator to reflect this. It will show how much your benefits change with reduced income.

5. Experiment with Different Retirement Ages

The SSA assumes you’ll retire at your FRA, but that might not match your plans. By adjusting your retirement age, you can see the impact of delaying or accelerating benefits.

• Retiring early (age 62): Benefits are reduced by 30%.
• Full Retirement Age (67 for most people): No reductions or increases.
• Delaying to age 70: Benefits increase by 8% per year after FRA, giving you a total 24% boost if you wait until 70.

Making Smart Social Security Decisions

Now that you have a more accurate estimate, you can make smarter decisions about your retirement:

• Decide how long to work: If 85% of your benefit is already earned, you may not need to work as long as you thought.
• Plan for part-time work: Adjusting income projections shows you how much part-time work will (or won’t) impact your benefits.
• Choose the best filing age: Understanding the impact of early vs. delayed filing helps maximize lifetime benefits.

Take Control of Your Social Security

Getting an accurate estimate of your Social Security benefits is a crucial step in your retirement planning. Don’t rely on generic government estimates—use the SSA’s tools to personalize your projections and make informed decisions.

Links:

• Sign up for Social Security: www.ssa.gov 
• Social Security and Work: How Much Can You Make in 2025? 
• Supercharge your Social Security Benefit with These 5 Tips 

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Disclosures

Jeremy Keil, aka “Mr. Retirement” and Keil Financial Partners offer retirement planning services with a focus on retirement income and tax planning, Social Security and pension claiming decisions, health & life insurance analysis and estate planning strategies. Jeremy Keil and Keil Financial Partners using the trademark name “Mr. Retirement” recognizes that these are not an exhaustive list of all aspects of retirement but are important topics on the financial aspects of retirement planning.  The projections or other information generated regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of future results. Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC and its advisors do not provide legal, accounting or tax advice. Consult your attorney and/or tax professional regarding these situations.

Disclosures: Keil Financial Partners may utilize third-party websites, including social media websites, blogs and other interactive content. We consider all interactions with clients, prospective clients and the general public on these sites to be advertisements under the securities regulations. As such, we generally retain copies of information that we or third parties may contribute to such sites. This information is subject to review and inspection by Thrivent Advisor Network or the securities regulators. 88 Advisory Persons of Thrivent provide advisory services under a “doing business as” name or may have their own legal business entities. However, advisory services are engaged exclusively through Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC, a registered investment adviser. Keil Financial Partners and Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC are not affiliated companies.

Thrivent and its financial professionals do not provide legal, accounting, or tax advice. Consult your attorney or tax professional. Representatives have general knowledge of the Social Security tenets. For complete details on your situation, contact the Social Security Administration. Before investing, investors should carefully read the prospectus/summary prospectus. and carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. All portfolio-level performance shown is hypothetical and for illustrative purposes only. Investor returns will differ from the results shown. The investment funds listed herein are not FDIC insured and shouldn’t be seen as a substitute for money market funds. Increases in interest rates can cause the prices of bonds in the portfolio, and thus. the fund’s share price, to decrease. All distribution yields shown are after all fund related expenses, but before ’s management fee.