Those of us who are not whippersnappers anymore can probably remember the year 1995 and some of its key events — such as the O.J. Simpson trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the launch of an online bookstore — Amazon.com. What we probably don’t remember, or didn’t ever know, was how much money retirees were collecting from Social Security back then.

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Here’s the answer — and see how average benefits have changed over time:

Source: Data source: Social Security Administration, 2023 Annual Statistical Supplement.
*As of December 2024.

That $720 per month amounts to around $8,640 on an annual basis. That might not seem like a lot — and it wasn’t. Median household income in 1995 was close to $36,000. A retired couple bringing in twice that $8,640 would still have far less than $36,000.

Things are not all that different today. The recent average monthly retiree Social Security benefit check was $1,975, or nearly $24,000 for the year. The median U.S. annual wage was around $59,000 as of about a year ago, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Figures for 2025 are still forthcoming.)

What does it mean?

A key takeaway is that none of us should count on Social Security fully supporting us in retirement. Still, we should definitely try to increase our future benefits as much as we can and claim those benefits at the best time — which is age 70 for most folks. We should also have a comprehensive retirement plan, ideally featuring multiple retirement income streams. These could include Social Security, pension income, income from fixed annuities, dividends, and more.

Be sure to factor inflation into your calculations, too — because just as incomes and costs today are much higher than they were in 1995, they’ll likely be higher still years from now. Fortunately, Social Security features nearly annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), which can help.

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Selena Maranjian has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.