Good planning is the key to achieving the best possible retirement in the United States. In this sense, we must give the Social Security Administration enough reasons to pay us a big pension check every month. Among these reasons is retirement plan preparation.
If we prepare well before applying for a Social Security check, it is very possible that we will have a good benefit. Having a smooth retirement with enough money will depend on our years of work. Getting the minimum check is relatively easy, but it certainly won’t give you enough money to live comfortably.
So you should increase your Social Security check as much as possible. Retirement should be the primary goal from the time we start working. Although the benefit should not be the only income, we should make the most of it. Without a good benefit, retirement can become a bit complicated for millions of Americans.
Tips for increasing your Social Security check
There are three elements that make up the monthly Social Security check. Each of these elements influences the other two. So we can’t increase just one of the elements, we have to try to get all three to go higher and higher. This is the key to getting the best possible benefit.
The three elements that we have to take into account are retirement age, salary and years worked. Each of these elements is fundamental if we are looking for the best possible benefit. If we do not want financial problems in the future, we must watch out for these three factors.
Worker’s salary
The higher it is, the better for us. The higher the salary, the higher the tax. If someone pays a lot of taxes as a worker, it shows that he deserves a better Social Security check. Therefore, the Administration will give you more money each month.
At the end of the day, retirement money is calculated from this element, so we should try to have the highest salary possible. Sometimes we have the option of being able to pay more taxes even if we have a low salary, but that may not be convenient. It depends on each individual case.
Age when applying for Social Security
The minimum age to apply for a Social Security check is 62 years old, but that does not mean that at that age we should do it. In order to reach the best possible figure, it is mandatory to reach 70 years of age. No one can get a $4,555 benefit without reaching age 70 before retirement.
While it is true that each situation is individual, delaying the benefit is best. Although for some Americans the option to retire at 62 is possible if they have managed to save enough money.
Years worked
One of the most common questions among Americans is how many years worked are necessary to start collecting a Social Security check. The answer is ten years, since that is the minimum. But as with retirement age, this is not convenient.
Applying for the retirement benefit after working only 10 years will not provide a good check, quite the contrary. We will have too small a benefit and that will mean that we will have no money. So for this not to happen you have to work a minimum of 35 years, even if it is not with the highest salary.