When retirement age arrives for all United States citizens it is important to have a good Social Security check. The bigger our retirement check by age the better golden years we will have. Therefore, working on achieving the largest possible Social Security check should be one of our goals in the working age.
While it is true that increasing the Social Security check after retirement is possible, it is also true that it is not very easy. For that reason, planning well in advance of retirement is really important. It is essential that we know what factors directly affect our retirement check.
Once we know how we can extend our check, all we have to do is follow the steps. With two fundamental steps, any citizen can get a much larger Social Security check. In the case of not following these steps, the retiree will not get such a big check, but he or she could get a monthly payment enough to live peacefully.
The two steps to increase your Social Security check
Every citizen should keep in mind that the amount of the Social Security check is different for all retirees. This is because the factors surrounding the retiree, such as his or her years worked or salary, are what actually shape the benefit. Since each citizen is an independent individual, everyone has a different background.
In order to increase the check, two fundamental steps must be taken into account. If we follow these two steps, increasing the benefit will be something very easy to do. Still, remember that the sooner you start planning your Social Security check, the bigger it will be. So don’t start planning your benefit too late or it may not be enough in the future.
Choose the best retirement age
Every retirement age has its advantages and disadvantages. However, if we’re talking about getting the biggest possible check, Early Retirement Age should not be an option. Applying for Social Security at age 62 will cause us to lose 30% of the money we have contributed as a worker.
So forget applying for retirement at the minimum age and consider retiring at age 67. At that age, the check is 100% of the money contributed. So we will have a much higher benefit than at 62 years of age and we will not have the feeling of losing our Social Security money.
Work long and hard and with a good salary before Social Security
The minimum number of years we are required to work is 10. After working for 10 years we can apply for Social Security, as long as we are 62 years old. But the check under those conditions is quite small. For that reason, it is better to work for more years and with a good salary.
Working a minimum of 35 years is the key to get a good monthly check. The Administration calculates our benefit from the 35 years worked with the highest salary. In addition, the higher the salary, the more taxes we will pay. And our check will depend on the taxes paid.