2022 Social Security, PBGC amounts and projected covered compensation 

Social Security benefits payable in 2022 will increase by 5.9%, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Oct. 13 in updates that include the 2022 taxable wage base and the 2020 national average wage. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) likewise has released inflation-indexed premium amounts for next year and the maximum guaranteed benefit for single-employer pension plans.

PBGC is expected to publish the 2022 present value of the maximum guarantee table in November, but Mercer has projected these amounts. These values are used to administer Internal Revenue Code Section 436 restrictions on lump sums and other accelerated payments from underfunded plans.

IRS has not yet issued 2022 covered compensation tables, but Mercer has projected these amounts based on the increase in the taxable wage base to $147,000 for 2022 from $$142,800 for 2021. Qualified defined benefit (DB) pension plans use covered compensation to determine “permitted disparity” under Section 401(l) design-based safe harbor rules and “imputed disparity” under Section 401(a)(4) general nondiscrimination testing rules.

Download the eight-page print-friendly PDF to read the complete article with tables showing the 2020-2022 PGBC and Social Security official amounts, along with Mercer’s projected figures.