One of the big goals of many United States citizens is to get a good Social Security retirement check. And while it’s true that most citizens can have one retirement check a month, it’s different to be able to access a good monthly check if you don’t plan efficiently.
So if you’re thinking about retiring in the coming year 2025, it may be a good idea to check out everything around the check and how Social Security is set up. Being 62 is not enough to get a benefit, as we need to meet more requirements. Also, in some cases, being 62 is not mandatory either.
How do you get a Social Security check at age 62?
The first thing to keep in mind when planning for retirement is that we are going to have to meet two conditions. On the one hand, the age condition. On the other hand, the work history condition. If we take into account that both aspects are mandatory, with some exceptions, we must know everything that surrounds it in order to make sure that we meet the requirements.
The minimum conditions to obtain a Social Security check for retirement due to age are:
- Be 62 years of age.
- You must have earned 40 work credits. This, in years, means having worked about 10 years.
So, with those minimum conditions we could start collecting a Social Security check, but that does not assure us a good payment. As far as work is concerned, it is not mandatory to have worked 10 years in a row, but we can work that time in a distributed way.
On the other hand, it is also important to keep in mind that the minimum age of 62 for Social Security is required if you do not have a disability. If we have a disability, we may be able to apply for Social Security before we reach the minimum age, although the general conditions will change as well.
Get the maximum Social Security check
As we have already mentioned, the Social Security payment can be applied for as soon as the United States citizen turns 62, but that situation is not entirely advantageous. Therefore, knowing how to maximize the check can help us get a good monthly benefit.
To have a good Social Security check we need to do the following three steps:
- Delay retirement age. The closer we are to age 70, the better retirement check we will have.
- Have worked at least 35 years. Any year worked below this number will add $0 to the average, which will lower the monthly check tremendously.
- Have a good salary while working. The higher the salary, the better the Social Security benefit.
Only in this way is it possible to have a payment of up to $5,180. Although it is true that not all Americans can have a maximum check, it is also true that it is possible to have a higher check than if we only meet the minimum Social Security requirements.
