Getting a monthly Social Security age retirement check from the United States has several requirements. If we do not meet all the mandatory conditions we will not be able to get a monthly retirement check. These rules are very clear and easy to understand.
However, within those rules there is one that can make or break a large part of our retirement. And the truth is that the check can increase quite a bit each month if we keep these requirements in mind. We could get a much smaller check if we don’t consider this as part of our retirement planning.
Social Security depends mainly on three factors. On the one hand, the years we have worked. On the other hand, the salary during those years worked. Finally, the age of retirement. And it is this last point that can make our benefit increase a lot if we know how to be patient.
Regardless of the years we have worked and the money contributed during that time, the retirement age will seriously affect our monthly check. For that reason, it is advisable to check this Social Security condition before applying for retirement.
How to get a higher Social Security easily?
The only rule to do this is to delay the retirement age as much as possible. If we want to get an average of $160 extra every month, what we should do is to retire the later the better.
After all, the minimum Social Security retirement age is 62. That is only if you have worked for 10 years. But applying for the monthly check at age 62 can mean the loss of a large part of our benefit.
In this sense, we will lose 30% of the money we have contributed as a worker if we request check at 62 years of age. Therefore, delaying the retirement age a little can earn us a lot of money.
If we are thinking that we do not want to lose any of our retirement money we should wait until age 67. That is the Full Retirement Age and that way we will get 100% of the money contributed. But that is not the end of the matter, since we can wait until the age of 70 to retire.
Only in that case we will get the biggest check we can aspire to. Of course, everything will depend on our work history. But the closer we are to 70 when we retire, the bigger the retirement check will be. This is the only way we can get Social Security of $4,873, although that amount is not for everyone.