As you make your retirement budget, it's important to keep two issues in mind. First, understand your needs — what budget will you need to pay your bills, and what budget will you want to afford your lifestyle?

Social Security benefits will increase by 2.5% beginning in 2025. The wage base limit will increase to $176,100 in 2025. Only income up to that wage base limit is subject to Social Security tax. One thing people quickly notice about Social Security is that change is virtually inevitable.

Among the changes Social Security recipients will see in 2025 is a higher full retirement age. The number marks the age at which workers become eligible to claim 100 percent of their retirement benefit based on lifetime earnings.

Social Security is the U.S. government's biggest program; as of June 30, 2024, about 67.9 million people, or one in five Americans, collected Social Security benefits. This year, we're seeing

Trump opposes Social Security benefit cuts, raising the full retirement age, and increasing payroll taxes. Some of his proposals could accelerate the timeline for Social Security running out of money.