GenXguy
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Ok, so I just went to the SS calculator at https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/benefit6.cgi
I did the quick calculator and for someone born in 1956 I had them start working at Wal-mart in 1993 at a starting wage of $20,000 a year. They got a raise after 10 years and were making $25,000 a year in 2003. They got another raise after 10 more years and were making $30,000 in 2013. They finally retired in 2023 at age 67 still making $30,000 a year (they were not really good at getting raises).
The calculator says they get a payment of $1695 a month from SS at age 67.
I don't know about you, but working 30 years, starting at $20,000 a year and only having 2 raises and ending at $30,000 a year doesn't sound like a really high earner to me
People I know that worked at Walmart in the early 90's were not making $20K/yr. It was closer to minimum wage and not full time hours. And the raises were low. And not everyone can work until age 67, and many want to retire and collect SS at age 62. I expect those people got real SS checks much lower than you calculated.