Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (abbreviated as AIME) – this is the average of the highest 35 years of your lifetime earnings, indexed to inflation. Each year’s earnings is indexed based on when you reach age 60, and the highest 35 years are averaged. This average is divided by 12, to result in the monthly average. The AIME is used to determine your PIA. Your AIME can increase after age 62 if you’re continuing to work and earn in excess of some of your earlier indexed earnings amounts.
Bend Points – these two amounts are determined for each individual based upon the year that you will reach age 62. The Bend Points are applied to your AIME to calculate the PIA.
Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) – when you delay filing for benefits after your FRA, you accrue credits for the delay, known as a DRCs. You earn DRCs for delaying your filing for Social Security benefits after your FRA up to age 70 at maximum. No DRCs are earned after you reach age 70. Presently this delay credit is equal to 2/3% for each month of delay, or a total of 8% for each year of delay. These credits are accumulative – meaning that if you delay for 3 years your DRCs are 24%.
Full Retirement Age (FRA) – this is the age at which your Social Security benefit is equal to your PIA. The age is 66 for folks born between 1946 and 1954. FRA increases by 2 months for each birth year after 1954, up to a (current) maximum of 67 for those born in 1960 or later. For each month before this age that you file for benefits, your benefit will be reduced from the PIA amount; for each month after this age that you delay filing, your benefit is increased from the PIA amount.
Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) – Using the AIME, three amounts (bound by Bend Points) are applied to the average. The amount of your AIME up to the first Bend Point is multiplied by 90%; the amount of your AIME from the first Bend Point to the second Bend Point is multiplied by 32%; and the amount above the second Bend Point up to your total AIME is multiplied by 15%. These three amounts are added together to result in your PIA.