The Social Security Administration has a maximum amount of money for benefits. Likewise, it also has a minimum amount on retirement payments. This affects all United States citizens equally. To receive the maximum amount, however, we need to meet a number of requirements that not everyone can meet. If you want to receive the maximum Social Security payment, you must do several things before you apply for retirement.
In this sense, we could say that it is almost impossible to get a benefit of $4,194 per month. But it’s not impossible at all, of course. The requirements are very specific and not everyone can reach that figure when they apply for retirement. In any case, Social Security informs everyone about how to get this maximum payment.
Requirements to receive a pension of $4,194 per month
There are two basic requirements to receive this amount of money. If you have already started collecting your Social Security benefit, you will not be able to do anything to reach this monthly amount. Otherwise, if you have not yet applied for retirement, you may be able to increase the monthly amount. The two requirements for increasing the Social Security amount are:
- Maintain a high salary for a long time: The retirement benefit depends on your earnings as a worker. To receive a high benefit, you must have earned a very high salary for 35 years of your life. If you meet this requirement, you will be very close to getting the benefit of $4,194 per month. But that’s not the reality, since most workers don’t have a huge salary for that long, which is why it’s so hard to get that amount in the benefit.
- Retire with Full Retirement Age (FRA): This section is more affordable for most workers. If you wait until age 67, you will access the FRA. With this you will be able to receive 100% of your benefit from the Social Security Administration. Thanks to this, the monthly amount will be significantly higher. Otherwise, you will receive about 80%. The final decision is yours, but sometimes it is not worth waiting until age 67 to apply for retirement.
How do I apply for my Social Security retirement?
To apply for Social Security retirement you have several possible options. The first of these options is to do it by telephone at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). If you cannot do it this way, you can go to a local office. At the local United States Government office the workers will help you prepare all the necessary documents.
On the other hand, the fastest way is through the Internet. Through the government website you will have access to all the documents you need to complete. Remember that after completing all the documents, you will have to wait for the Social Security award letter with the next steps to follow.
