Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME)
Average Indexed Monthly Earnings, or AIME, is what the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses to calculate benefits for recipients of Social Security and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI). If you become disabled and apply for SSDI, the SSA uses your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings to determine your baseline benefit amount.
When you apply for SSDI benefits, your monthly income once awarded will be based upon what you have paid into the FICA, or Social Security taxes. After calculating your AIME, they will determine your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), also known as your full retirement benefit. They will not use every year that you have worked; they count up the number of years you worked since the age of 22 to the year of disability. The SSA will then drop a certain number of years, then take that number of your highest earning years to calculate Average Indexed Monthly Earnings.
The amount of money you get from SSDI depends on the PIA calculation. It is a progressive formula, like how taxes work, but in reverse. The more you’ve earned, the less you’ll get for the higher income brackets.
If you become eligible for SSDI benefits in 2026, your PIA would be the total of:
- 90% of the first $1,286 of your AIME
- 32% of your AIME between $1,286 and $7,749
- 15% of your AIME over $7,749
The SSA totals these percentages and rounds the sum to the lower multiple of 10 cents. Each portion is the “bend point” for calculating your SSDI. It is important to note that the severity of your condition does not change your monthly benefit.
