Family Maximum Bend Points by Year of Eligibility
First family-maximum bend point, eligibility 2026
$1,643
Three hinges, at $1,643, $2,371, $3,093, capping the total payable on one earnings record.
The family maximum caps what can be paid in total on one earnings record. It is built from three hinges applied to the primary insurance amount. Both sets are set by the year the worker turns 62 and then never move again — which is the single most misunderstood fact about the benefit formula.
Fixed for life at 62
A worker who turned 62 in 2026 uses the 2026 bend points forever, even if they claim at 70. Someone who turned 62 the year before uses that year’s, for life. After age 62 the only thing that moves the benefit is the cost-of-living adjustment. The formula, with your own earnings figure.
| Eligibility year | Bend point 1 | Bend point 2 | Bend point 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $1,643 | $2,371 | $3,093 |
| 2025 | $1,567 | $2,262 | $2,950 |
| 2024 | $1,500 | $2,166 | $2,825 |
| 2023 | $1,425 | $2,056 | $2,682 |
| 2022 | $1,308 | $1,889 | $2,463 |
| 2021 | $1,272 | $1,837 | $2,395 |
| 2020 | $1,226 | $1,770 | $2,309 |
| 2019 | $1,184 | $1,708 | $2,228 |
| 2018 | $1,144 | $1,651 | $2,154 |
| 2017 | $1,131 | $1,633 | $2,130 |
| 2016 | $1,093 | $1,578 | $2,058 |
| 2015 | $1,056 | $1,524 | $1,987 |
| 2014 | $1,042 | $1,505 | $1,962 |
| 2013 | $1,011 | $1,459 | $1,903 |
| 2012 | $980 | $1,415 | $1,845 |
| 2011 | $957 | $1,382 | $1,803 |
| 2010 | $972 | $1,403 | $1,830 |
| 2009 | $950 | $1,372 | $1,789 |
| 2008 | $909 | $1,312 | $1,711 |
| 2007 | $869 | $1,255 | $1,636 |
| 2006 | $838 | $1,210 | $1,578 |
| 2005 | $801 | $1,156 | $1,508 |
| 2004 | $782 | $1,129 | $1,472 |
| 2003 | $774 | $1,118 | $1,458 |
| 2002 | $756 | $1,092 | $1,424 |
| 2001 | $717 | $1,034 | $1,349 |
| 2000 | $679 | $980 | $1,278 |
| 1999 | $645 | $931 | $1,214 |
| 1998 | $609 | $880 | $1,147 |
| 1997 | $581 | $839 | $1,094 |
| 1996 | $559 | $806 | $1,052 |
| 1995 | $544 | $785 | $1,024 |
| 1994 | $539 | $779 | $1,016 |
| 1993 | $513 | $740 | $966 |
| 1992 | $495 | $714 | $931 |
| 1991 | $473 | $682 | $890 |
| 1990 | $455 | $656 | $856 |
| 1989 | $433 | $626 | $816 |
| 1988 | $407 | $588 | $767 |
| 1987 | $396 | $571 | $745 |
| 1986 | $379 | $548 | $714 |
| 1985 | $358 | $517 | $675 |
| 1984 | $342 | $493 | $643 |
| 1983 | $324 | $468 | $610 |
| 1982 | $294 | $425 | $554 |
| 1981 | $270 | $390 | $508 |
| 1980 | $248 | $358 | $467 |
| 1979 | $230 | $332 | $433 |
The other rate series
- Social Security Wage Base
The maximum earnings subject to the Social Security payroll tax, and the employee contribution it implies.
- Quarter of Coverage
What one Social Security credit costs in earnings, indexed to the average wage index each year.
- PIA Bend Points
The two dollar hinges in the benefit formula, fixed for life at the year you turn 62.
- Retirement Earnings Test
How much you can earn before benefits are withheld, at both the lower and the FRA-year threshold.
- Substantial Gainful Activity
The monthly earnings level that defines disability work activity, non-blind and blind.
- Trial Work Period
The monthly earnings that make a month count against the nine-month trial work period.
- SSI Federal Payment Rate
The federal SSI standard for an individual and a couple, and the unrounded annual amount each derives from.
- Maximum Social Security Benefit
The highest benefit a worker retiring at full retirement age can receive, and what the COLA does to it.
- Average Social Security Benefit
What SSA publishes as the average payment for each beneficiary category, and the distribution behind it.
- National Average Wage Index
The wage series that indexes the wage base, the bend points and the cost of a credit.
- SSI Student Earned Income Exclusion
How much a student under 22 can earn before SSI counts it, monthly and annually.
By programme
- Retirementretired workers
- DisabilitySSDI
- SSIthe federal rate
- Survivorswidows and widowers
- Spousalon a worker record
- Childrenand the family maximum
Sources and freshness
- SSA OACT — Benefit formula bend points — verified 10 August 2026
- SSA Office of the Chief Actuary — Cost-of-Living Adjustments — verified 10 August 2026
Series keyed by: Year of eligibility (the year the worker turns 62).
Figures effective 2026. Page figures last verified against the sources above on 10 August 2026. Corrections: the correction log · support@inventum.com.au