Millions of Americans apply for their retirement benefit check each year. This means that in the United States many citizens are active with a monthly Social Security payment. Therefore, we can say that this Administration ensures the economic stability of a large percentage of the American society.
Since many of the pensioners receive only a Social Security check as a source of income, getting a good monthly amount is essential. If we don’t get enough money to pay the bills, pay other monthly expenses and live well, we have a problem. So try to get the best check possible.
While it can sometimes be difficult to maximize your Social Security check, getting a good benefit is not impossible. The maximum amount of money we can get from the retirement benefit is $4,555 per month in 2023. That figure is a far cry from the average, as citizen pensioners typically collect around $1,800 per month.
What do I need to do to get a good retirement check?
To get the best possible check on retirement you need to delay retirement. This means that applying for Social Security benefits at the minimum age is not recommended. Starting at age 62 we can apply for retirement, but that will cause us to lose 30% of the money we have contributed as workers.
Retirement at age 70 is ideal in these cases. This will not only make us get 100% of the money we have contributed, but we can achieve much more. It is the only way to reach the maximum check of $4,555 per month, something difficult, but possible.
So if you want to get a good retirement check it is paramount to delay the retirement age. And it is not necessary to reach age 70 to do so, since if we retire at age 67 we will have 100% of Social Security.
Other elements that make up the Social Security pension
In addition to the retirement age, there are two other elements that make up the monthly Social Security amount. If we maximize these two elements we can get the best possible check.
Pay attention to these two factors:
- Years worked.
- Salary as a worker.
On the one hand, working a minimum of 10 years is essential to get a Social Security benefit. But this is not enough to get the maximum benefits. For the maximum check, you have to work 35 years. The record of the 35 years with the highest salary will be the one that Social Security takes to calculate our benefit.
That is why the other determining factor for the pension check comes into play. The salary as a worker is a key factor, since our monthly check will depend to a great extent on the taxes we pay during our time as a worker.