[meyer]

For someone retiring 01 Jan 2011, the maximum they could have contributed is $130,169.69. Add that to the equal amount their employer paid and you get $278,339.38.

Well, I'm up to $219,000 so far, taking into account what I and my employer paid in. Not including the interest that it should have accrued had it been invested even in the lowly bank account. And I've got many more working years left.

How did you come up with the $130K number? Are you assuming that they started work at 18 or 16 and worked to 62? 65? 70?

[ex 98C MI Dude]

I used starting work at 18, ending at 65. The amount you can contribute is capped every year. Last few years contributions were capped at $6621.60. This year it is capped at $4485.60.

How did I figure out the $130,169.69 number? Taking max taxable income for that year and used the rate the ssa.gov showed for that year. Added the whole shooting match up for the last 45 years, and that is the absolute top of what someone, by law, could pay into the system. Any excess contributions are returned to the payer at the end of the tax year the overage occurred.