When a claimant has wages or self-employment income that is covered by Social Security, he pays Social Security taxes each year up to a maximum amount that is set by law. That amount has changed frequently over the years. If a claimant earned more than the maximum earnings amount in any year but had only one job, the amount shown in the "Your Taxed Social Security Earnings" column will be just the maximum amount. If the claimant had more than one job, the total that is recorded may be more than the maximum. However, only the maximum amount will be used to calculate his benefit estimates.