The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has posted its 2027 tables, and the headline number went up. For single-employer plans that terminate in 2027, the maximum guaranteed benefit at age 65 is $8,113.64 a month as a straight-life annuity — up from $7,789.77 in 2026. PBGC puts the increase at 4.16%, in line with the Social Security contribution and benefit base rising to $192,300 for 2027 from $184,500.
For most participants that ceiling is academic; typical private-sector pensions land well under it. It bites for long-service, high-earning participants — and for anyone who retires early.
The age column matters more than the headline
The guarantee is not a flat cap. It shrinks sharply at younger ages, because PBGC expects to write more checks over a longer life. From the 2027 table:
| Age | Straight-life | Joint & 50% survivor |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | $13,468.64 | $12,121.78 |
| 65 | $8,113.64 | $7,302.28 |
| 62 | $6,409.78 | $5,768.80 |
| 60 | $5,273.87 | $4,746.48 |
| 55 | $3,651.14 | $3,286.03 |
A 55-year-old's guarantee is about 45% of the age-65 figure. Electing a joint-and-50% survivor annuity trims it another 10%. PBGC notes the survivor column assumes both spouses are the same age.
The quiet part: which year's table is yours
Here is the detail that surprises people. The applicable table generally depends on when the plan fails — but if the plan fails while the employer is in bankruptcy, PBGC uses the table for the year the employer entered bankruptcy.
That is a freeze, and it runs backward. A sponsor that filed in 2021 and whose plan is finally trusteed in 2027 does not get the 2027 table. Participants are measured against the older, smaller limits, and six years of indexing never arrives. The bankruptcy petition date — not your retirement date, not the termination date — is the one to look up.
A second table controls lump sums
PBGC publishes a companion figure: the present value of the maximum guarantee, $1,138,348 at age 65 for 2027, computed using August 2026 interest rates and the §417(e) mortality table. This one is not about plan failure at all. When a plan's adjusted funding target attainment percentage (AFTAP) falls between 60% and 80%, the plan generally may not pay a "prohibited payment" — a lump sum — above the lesser of half the amount otherwise payable or the present value of that participant's maximum guarantee. If you are weighing a lump-sum window at an underfunded plan, that cap may already be limiting the offer.
Takeaways
- Look up your actual age and benefit form, not the age-65 straight-life number.
- If your employer has filed for bankruptcy, find the table for the filing year.
- Sponsor costs rose too: 2027 flat-rate premiums are $116 per participant (single-employer) and $42 (multiemployer), with the variable-rate premium holding at $52 per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits and its per-participant cap rising to $783.
- These tables cover single-employer plans only. Multiemployer plan guarantees use a separate, substantially lower formula.
Sources: PBGC maximum monthly guarantee tables; PBGC present value of maximum guarantee; Groom Law Group (October 2026); ASPPA; IFEBP; Social Security Administration 2027 COLA and wage base announcement.