Andre1969
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Those early years get indexed.
One poster I read (either here or over on bogleheads forums) stated his high-school earnings had been indexed almost 6x!
I just looked it up out of curiosity. My first year of SS earnings was 1986, when I earned a whopping $1,637. But the multiplication factor is 3.497, so adjusted that's like $5,725.
The SS indexing is apparently more generous than inflation. I just put $1,637 into an inflation calculator, and it came up with $4,531, or a 2.768 factor. So, as much as SS gets criticized, I guess it has that going for it!
My Mom bought a new Monte Carlo in 1986, at the end of the model year. It was around $14-15K out the door. Adjusting for inflation, that's like $38-41.5K, out the door! Using SS indexing, it would be more like $49-52K!
It's funny how perspective changes, though. I was only 16 when she bought that car, and making $3.75/hr working evenings after school at a veterinary clinic. But still, for that type of car, $14-15K didn't seem like a lot of money to me. But then it blows my mind to think that, inflation-adjusted, that was like blowing $40K or more. For a car with hubcaps and crank windows.