Research Report Social Security and Medicare Lifetime Benefits and Taxes: 2017 Update
C. Eugene Steuerle, Caleb Quakenbush
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These tables show the expected present value at age 65 of benefits received in retirement and taxes paid over a career for households with different wage and marriage histories. The underlying data come from the Social Security Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In calculating expected present values, we use sex-adjusted probabilities to account for chance of death after age 65 and a discount rate of 2 percent plus inflation. Many average-income single adults retiring between 2015 and 2020 will receive about $500,000 in benefits, and couples will receive roughly $1 million, partly because these systems now provide on average many more years of benefits than when they first began.
Research Areas Aging and retirement Taxes and budgets
Tags Social Security Pensions Federal budget and economy
Policy Centers Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center