Social Security in the United States has several types of benefits. Among these, there is one that stands out the most. The retirement benefit is the most popular benefit type in the country. Not many people know that the Social Security retirement benefit can be optimized to get more money on a monthly basis. This increase is not available to everyone, but you can be a beneficiary of at least part of it.
Here we are going to show you what those small steps are to get an increase. There are three steps mainly and they are all very easy to perform if you know the way. It won’t take too much effort to do them, so it’s worth doing them to get a bigger Social Security in retirement.
Steps to take to maximize Social Security
It is important to know that in order to do these steps to increase Social Security retirement you cannot be retired. These steps are for before retirement. Thanks to these simple tips to increase your retirement benefit, you will have a more relaxed and financially empowered retirement. Let’s take a look at those steps.
Get a high salary
There’s a limit to this, but it’s easy to understand. The maximum salary that “adds” money to your Social Security retirement benefit is $147,000 per year. At such a salary for 35 years, you will receive the maximum you can receive in retirement. If you earn less, your retirement will be less.
But don’t worry. You won’t receive much less money if you don’t reach that maximum. The amount fluctuates differently depending on many factors. The formula used makes the first few dollars much more important than the first few dollars. That is, you may see a much bigger change in your retirement between $20,000 and $30,000 than between $130,000 and $140,000. The equivalent is much greater. The larger the amount of salary money, the smaller the difference.
Keep earnings for 35 years
Social Security averages your highest earnings over 35 years. This means that they calculate your retirement benefit from the 35 years that you have earned the most money. Because of this, you can know that the more money you earn, the more money you will earn in retirement. That’s why it’s important to try to keep a high salary longer.
Wait Until Age 70 (LRA)
If you want to collect the maximum in your Social Security retirement benefit, the best thing to do is to wait until age 70. At this age you will collect more than you can collect if you work until age 67, which would be the full retirement age (FRA). Each year worked from age 67 to age 70 will add dollars to your retirement benefit.
After age 70 there is no benefit from continuing to work, so it is best to apply for Social Security retirement at that age to enjoy a few years of peace and quiet. Plus, you’ll have plenty of extra money to spend at the end of the month.