How Many Seniors Rely On Social Security For More Than Half Their Income And Where Do You Stack Up?

The Social Security benefits program is a substantial project undertaken by the federal government. Among some of the most important facts you should know about the Social Security benefits that seniors receive is the reality that this is the government's largest funding commitment. In August 2025, the average Social Security check came out to just over $2,000, and the Social Security Administration (SSA) has already announced its COLA increase for 2026 features a 2.8% boost. There are numerous ways to calculate how much you'll need to save for retirement, and benefit checks absolutely factor into this math. However, it might be alarming for many to learn that 73% of seniors depend on the program for more than half of their retirement income, according to a 2025 study by The Senior Citizens League.

More alarming still, estimates suggest that almost 22 million seniors have no personal retirement savings at all, and are completely reliant on Social Security to fund their lifestyle. Understanding these features of the retirement landscape is essential to making good savings decisions in the present for those still in their working years. Any saving you can do ahead of your retirement will help give you a leg up on the almost 32 million seniors estimated to have less than $2,000 per month to support their daily needs. Retirement planning demands a few different mental frameworks, and one important approach involves understanding how Social Security is meant to operate in support of your financial livelihood.

Benefits from Social Security offer a sliding scale. The more you pay into the system, the higher your check value will ultimately be. However, this isn't based on a one-for-one kind of payment scheme. It's more practical to look at Social Security as a way of helping retirees maintain their lifestyle after they've finished working. No one is going to get rich from their Social Security checks. In fact, those with lower incomes can expect a higher replacement percentage than those who've earned the most through their career. This is due in large part to the expectation that higher earners will have more room to budget for a greater volume of savings. At most, retirees should expect to see about 40% of their pre-retirement income paid out in monthly benefit checks. With one rule of thumb suggesting that you'll need about 75% of your pre-retirement income level to support a similar lifestyle in retirement, most workers will want to generate about the same personal contribution to their retirement budget as their Social Security check, if not more.

If you are set to receive $2,000 each month in Social Security benefits and doubling that actually delivers 80% of your pre-retirement income, you will be working with an annual salary figure of $60,000. Utilizing a conservative 4% drawdown rate, you'd need roughly $600,000 saved up to make the math work. However, with even a fraction of this set aside entering retirement, you would still find yourself better off than the majority of seniors today.