In 2025, the maximum monthly benefit Social Security will pay is $5,108. To be clear, though, that's higher than the program's maximum benefit at full retirement age this year. Those looking at $5,108 a month in Social Security need to delay their claims until the age of 70 to lock in payments that high.

Since average earnings tend to rise over time, you'd expect to see younger workers -- those with higher average monthly earnings -- receive larger checks. And we do see this to some extent. A 70-year-old claimer took home an average of about $2,037.54 in December 2023.

To see all of your Social Security benefits, you need to sign up for a My Social Security account. Note that if you've already signed up for a login.gov or ID.me account, you can skip the following steps and just sign into your account. If you've never signed up for either of these services before, here's what you need to do.

During that time, Social Security retirement benefits have also experienced a change. In 2005, the average monthly Social Security benefit was $1,002, or just over $12,000 annually. To start this year, the average monthly benefit for a retired worker was $1,975.