One of the really important things to know when planning for Social Security benefits is also one of the most obvious: How are they going to pay me? Math is math, after all.
You should know that virtually all Social Security benefits are based on what you have paid into the system during your working years.
The notable exception is Supplemental Security Income (SSI). That program pays the same benefit to everyone. Currently is about $780 per month.
What about other benefits? The always helpful people at The Motley Fool have published a list of the average Social Security benefits by class. Here are the numbers:
Retired workers: $1,506 per month
Spousal benefits: $787 per month
Survivor benefits for spouses: $1,425 per month
Survivor benefits for children: $903 per month
Disabled worker benefits: $1,258 per month
Again, remember that these are average numbers. You can find out what your monthly Social Security disability benefit would be by checking with Social Security. The best way to do that is via a mysocialsecurity.com account. This is just one more reason to set up such an account. Do it today.
