From the moment a United States resident starts working he or she should have a Social Security check in mind. Successfully setting up a good retirement benefit should be one of the major goals of every citizen. If we don’t have a decent check at the time we apply for Social Security, we may have more than one financial problem in our golden years.
Although no citizen should have a Social Security check as his or her only source of income, for many this is the case. For that reason it is even more important to increase the check as much as possible. It is the best way to avoid future problems. So if we know how to set up a Social Security check, we will be able to get the best possible benefit within our means.
Social Security checks arrive on different days each month. The day of the cashing will depend on several factors. What is certain is that all retirees receive their benefits equally. If we have an accepted benefit we will have a monthly check. Whether sooner or later, the maximum payment of $4,555 will reach our pockets. But what should we do to avoid a small monthly pensioner?
Tips for avoiding a small retirement check
When setting up the Social Security benefit, we will always find three elements at play. These three elements must be maximized if we are to get a good monthly check. In that sense, it is possible to have a larger amount if we take this into account from the moment we start working.
The three elements that make up the Social Security check are the retirement age, the years worked and the salary as a worker. Therefore, while we are working we will be able to increase these three elements and thus get a better check.
Tips to avoid when setting up our benefit are as follows:
- Don’t apply for retirement too early. Work as long as you can. Increase your retirement age as much as possible and avoid applying for a check at age 62. If you can work until 67, all the better.
- Don’t settle for a low salary. The higher your salary, the higher your Social Security will be in retirement. So don’t settle for a low salary and get the highest salary possible.
- Don’t work too few years. Working a few years means losing some of your money. The minimum number of years worked to be able to apply for Social Security is 10, but that will give us a very small check. If we want to get a good benefit we must work at least 35 years.
If we apply these three tips we will get the best Social Security check within our means. Although the maximum check is $4,555 per month, reaching this figure is sometimes impossible, so we should aim for a benefit that averages more than $1,800 per month. With a check that reaches $2,500 per month we should have enough money for our expenses.