The time to apply for retirement from the United States Social Security Administration is a turning point in the life of a United States citizen. After you start collecting your retirement check, everything is very different. For that reason, in addition to several others, it is important to make the decision at the right time. To do this, we must have a good retirement plan before thinking about Social Security.
In the case of not making a good retirement plan it is very possible that we will encounter financial problems in the future. So pay attention to your every move if you don’t want to lose Social Security money every month. In this sense, it is not mandatory to reach the maximum retirement check, but we do have to keep in mind that if we do something wrong we could lose part of our money.
So, if we do not want to have unpleasant surprises, it is mandatory to plan things well. There are three main elements that we must take into account, so let’s investigate them to make the most of them. Once we know where the mistakes are we are sure our Social Security check will be a little bigger.
3 Mistakes that cause us to lose Social Security money
Regardless of what our ultimate retirement goal is, we should avoid these three mistakes. If we make one of them we can lose a lot of our retirement money. While it is true that we will eventually collect a monthly check, the amount of the check can be greatly reduced by these mistakes.
Applying for retirement too early
Asking for a monthly Social Security check too early is a mistake that will cause us to lose a lot of money. To be exact, retirees who apply for Early Retirement Age lose 30% of the money they have contributed as workers. This means that from a check of $1,000, retirees receive a check of $700 a month.
The best way to avoid this mistake is to delay the retirement age. If we wait until 67, we will have 100% of what we have contributed. However, to get the maximum check of $4,555 in 2023, it is mandatory to wait until age 70. Beyond 70 years of age there is no benefit in the monthly benefit, so it is better not to stretch your time as a worker any further.
Not working 35 years
This is another huge mistake that many Americans make. In order to apply for a Social Security check, it is necessary to work a minimum of 10 years. But that is not enough, because in that case our pensioner’s pension will be very low.
Every year not worked under 35 makes the check go down a lot. This is because the Administration calculates our benefit from the 35 years worked with the highest salary. So don’t forget to work 35 years or, at least, get close to that figure before applying for the pensioner’s pension.
Do not ask for a higher salary before Social Security
The monthly pensioner’s check depends directly on our time as a worker. Therefore, a higher salary means a bigger Social Security check. When we collect more as a worker we pay more taxes and this makes the monthly check later much larger.
By combining these three elements and maximizing them we will not lose money from our retirement. So pay close attention and plan well for your retirement before you even begin to think about having a monthly check in your pocket.