The United States Social Security retirement payment depends on several factors. If we take all these factors into account, our retirement will be much better. At least we will have a bigger check so we can enjoy the golden years. If we don’t take all these elements into account, the check may not be too large.
So planning for retirement is essential if we want to enjoy our life to the fullest when we stop working. And it is thanks to the rules established by Social Security that we can reach a monthly figure large enough to live without financial problems. Still, reaching the maximum amount is certainly difficult.
But you don’t have to have a maximum check of $4,873 a month to have a good life. It is possible to have a good budget by maximizing our means. In the case of not getting a good monthly check we can always ask for other additional benefits such as SNAP Food Stamps or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
How to avoid losing part of Social Security?
To avoid losing part of Social Security, we must take into account all the elements that make up the monthly benefit. These three elements are retirement age, years worked and salary as a worker. Maximizing these three elements should be our priority, but always from the point of view of our possibilities.
On the one hand, having a good salary during our years as a worker is fundamental. Likewise, working a minimum number of years is indispensable. The minimum time worked is 10 years, but the ideal is to work at least 35 years. Any time not worked below that number of years will cause us to lose part of the monthly benefit.
But what causes us to lose a large part of our Social Security payment is our retirement age. And it is important that we understand this. The minimum retirement age is 62. But if we apply for check with these years, we will have 30% less of the payment we have contributed. So we will lose a large part of our benefit.
To avoid this loss we have to retire as late as possible. The closer we get to age 70, the better Social Security payment we will have. So remember to keep this in mind when organizing your retirement, as it could be a determining factor in having a good monthly check.