The $4,555 monthly Social Security limit will cease to be so in the coming year 2024 thanks to the United States Government’s COLA. So Americans have a great opportunity to get a bigger check that makes them have a better economy.
Still, we don’t know exactly what the COLA will be yet, as the official announcement has not been made. But estimates in general suggest that we may get a COLA that will cause Social Security checks to increase by 3%.
This would bring us to a monthly check of about $4,691. But not all Americans can qualify to get this payment, as it is ring-fenced for a specific group.
Specifically, only Americans who currently collect their check at the maximum $4,555 can go on to have a payment of $4,691 from next year 2024 or whatever we eventually get once the COLA is implemented. Do you have the maximum Social Security check?
HOW TO GET THE MAXIMUM SOCIAL SECURITY IN 2024?
If you haven’t yet applied for Social Security you could be just in time to get the maximum retirement benefit check. To get it you need to maximize three items related to this check.
Once we maximize these three items we are going to be able to see the maximum $4,555 check in 2023 and the 2024 maximum ending up being thanks to the COLA. In the case of having already applied for the retirement benefit we will not be able to increase the payment.
Here are the three elements we need to keep in mind to maximize the check:
- Retirement age. The higher the better. If we reach age 70 without applying for retirement we are going to get a very large Social Security check. Although the minimum age to retire is 62 years old, this is not advisable because it would cause us to lose 30% of our contributed money. So it is better to wait a few years before thinking about retirement.
- Salary as a worker. Depending on the taxes we pay as workers we are going to get a bigger or smaller check. For this reason, we should always try to get the highest salary possible.
- Years worked. The minimum number of years worked to get a benefit is ten years. But this is not enough, as we will get a very small payment. If we want to get a big check, the best thing to do is to work for at least 35 years with a high salary.
If we maximize these three elements, the monthly Social Security payment will be close to the maximum, although it is true that reaching such a high amount could be complicated. The important thing is to work for at least 35 years with a good salary and apply for retirement between the ages of 67 and 70.
Remember that it is not mandatory to max out the check, as it is possible to live well on just the retirement check without the need to get the Social Security payment of $4,555 in 2023.