One of the keys to having the best possible golden years is to achieve a good amount of Social Security payment in the United States. That’s because 9 out of 10 Americans over the age of 65 collect a retirement payment, which is why it’s so important to the economy.
However, not all Americans are aware of the rules for increasing their Social Security retirement check. If we have a monthly check accepted, the payment cannot be increased. But in case we are not yet of retirement age, it will allow us to increase the monthly check.
And to increase the payment we must maximize three different elements. Even so, there is one of these elements in particular that can cause us to lose 30% of our benefit. Therefore, if we do not watch out for this aspect we will not have a good rest years.
How to increase the Social Security check?
Increasing retirement benefit payments is possible if we organize our retirement well. We must do this well in advance, since Social Security checks depend on our work history. If we do not take this into account, we will not be able to increase our monthly payments.
In this way, we must take into account that:
- We have to delay the retirement age. The minimum age to apply for retirement is 62, but that is not advisable. This way we will lose 30% of the money we have contributed. We should always wait until 67 if we want to get 100% of the money contributed. If we wait until 70, the payment could reach the maximum of $4,873.
- We must have a good salary. As long as we work we must have a high salary. Only then are we going to be able to have the maximum Social Security retirement benefit. If we have a low pay check, the monthly retirement payment will be low.
- We should work as long as possible before applying for retirement. The minimum years worked to get a retirement benefit is 10 years, but it is not enough to get a good check. We must reach 35 years of work before retirement to have the best chance of a Social Security check.
If we combine these three elements, we could reach $4,873. However, such a high figure is not suitable for all citizens. Although it is not necessary to reach a Social Security of that amount to live well, it is a very good idea to take it into account to maximize our chances of living well in the golden years.