The majority of benefits goes to retired workers. As of December, the average estimated monthly payout for retirees was $1,679.18. That increased to an average of $1,825.27 in January 2023, working out to an extra $1,753 a year.
https://www.al.com/news/2023/01/heres-the-average-social-security-check-for-66-million-beneficiaries-in-2023.html
For a couple that equal an annual base income of about $32,854.86
How you doin?
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
I am a USAF retiree, 19 years 1 month and 25 days. Took early retirement in August 1995. USAF pension is now equal to 93 percent of my base pay in 1995. SS income is $1,586 per month combined, but my wife never worked outside the home. My total income now $43,224 has the same buying power as my USAF income in 1995, inflation adjusted. I am doing great. When I get my 2020 Ford Edge paid off in Oct 2024, I will be able to bank my entire SS check.
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Thanks for the snapshot. Quite stunning information, jaw-dropping even for the average wage earner. Do you feel wealthy?
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Wealthy, definitely not. Comfortable, yes. And…no regrets.
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I assume you were not janitors or cooks. Any idea what you might have earned in the private sector?
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Negative. However, we did not stay in a certain job or position more than 4-5 years. When I retired in 2006, I was a Programs Manager at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps with budgetary and managerial responsibilities. I kept my nose clean for 36.5 years and held up my end of the deal as a civilian employee in the DoD.
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Neither my wife nor I receive social security. As retired federal workers in the old CSRS system, we never paid into it. However, this last COLA increase put my annual pension at 92% of the salary I was earning when I retired in 2006 (w/ 36.5 years of service), which was $135,000. My wife retired in 2003 (w/ 38 yrs. of service), she was earning $128,000. Her annual pension is now slightly more than that. Some have told us we are “lucky.” I challenge that with, “we all had decisions to make after high school or college. We both opted for the federal government knowing that one could retire at age 55 if you had at least 30 years of service.” I have been retired 17 years, my wife, 20 years.
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