Caitlyn Moorhead
Thu, Apr 3, 2025, 9:03 AM 4 min read
One communal disapproval of Social Security is that Americans would beryllium overmuch amended disconnected financially if the wealth they paid into the status programme done payroll taxes was instead invested into backstage concern accounts. That aforesaid statement tin beryllium applied to Social Security checks — seniors would person overmuch much wealthiness if they invested their checks arsenic soon arsenic they got them. But is this a tenable petition for astir people, particularly those connected a fixed income?
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To assistance find the reply present is simply a person look astatine however overmuch you could gain by investing your Social Security checks implicit a decade.
For those seniors who tin spend to put each of their Social Security checks, the imaginable payoff is considerable. The pursuing array shows however overmuch nett you would person made if you invested each Social Security cheque implicit the past 10 years into the S&P 500, from 2015 done the opening of 2025.
The information includes the mean Social Security cheque by twelvemonth arsenic antecedently reported by GOBankingRates. It besides includes the mean yearly instrumentality of the S&P 500 from 2015 to 2025, arsenic cited by Macrotrends (other sources mightiness bespeak antithetic returns).
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A mates things to support successful mind: The figures beneath are based lone connected yearly averages, which means they don’t see month-to-month fluctuations that hap with the banal market. They besides don’t see different types of investments — specified arsenic crypto oregon existent property — that would person produced precise antithetic returns.
Year | Avg. monthly SS check | Total SS payments for year | S&P 500 return | Profit/loss for year |
2015 | $1,341.77 | $16,101.24 | -0.73% | -$117.54 |
2016 | $1,360.13 | $16,321.56 | +9.54% | +1,557.08 |
2017 | $1,404.15 | $16,849.80 | +19.42% | +3,272.23 |
2018 | $1,461.31 | $17,535.72 | -6.24% | -$1,094.23 |
2019 | $1,455.22 | $17,462.64 | +28.88% | +5,043.21 |
2020 | $1,489.30 | $17,871.60 | +16.26% | +2,905.92 |
2021 | $1,517.98 | $18,215.76 | +26.89% | +4,898.22 |
2022 | $1,615.96 | $19,391.52 | -19.44% | -3,769.71 |
2023 | $1,696.35 | $20,356.20 | +24.23% | +4,932.31 |
2024 | $1,909.01 | $22,908.12 | +23.31% | +5,339.88 |
2025 | $1,976 | $23,712 | +1.96% | +$464.76 |
Total profit/loss | +$23,432.33 |
According to the array above, if you invested each of your monthly Social Security checks successful the S&P 500 implicit the past decade, your nest ovum would person grown by implicit $20,000.
That benignant of instrumentality should bring cheer to fiscal gurus, similar Dave Ramsey, who recommends applying for Social Security status benefits arsenic aboriginal arsenic possible. For example, you could commencement collecting benefits astatine property 62 alternatively of the afloat status property of 66 oregon 67 and past instantly put each monthly payment.