When a citizen of the United States begins his or her working career, he or she should know that the check to be collected during retirement will depend directly on the monthly checks of his or her salary. For that reason, organizing everything related to this monthly payment in the best possible way is key if we are to have the best golden years.
And although it is true that not all United States citizens can achieve a very high retirement check, it is also true that all Americans can increase their monthly benefits. There are also additional checks that Americans can apply for in order to get some extra money.
But if we focus on the Social Security payment for old age retirement, there are three elements that we have to take into account. If we consider them as primary objectives of our work history, we will get the biggest possible check and, therefore, we will have a better retirement in the future.
Getting the best retirement check
The three elements that make up the monthly Social Security check interact directly with each other. This means that each element influences the other two to the point that a simple change could greatly increase or decrease the retirement benefit. Based on the fact that the maximum check is $5,180, we can make an approximate calculation of whether or not we will be close to that amount.
In this sense, the three basic pillars for getting a good Social Security check are the retirement age, the years worked and the salary as a worker. The Administration itself can offer more information in this regard, but these are the three elements that we must expand on in order to have a good monthly benefit in the future.
Retirement age
If we retire at 70 we will get not only 100% of the monthly payment, but a little extra money as well. The minimum retirement age is 62, but in most cases it is not advisable to apply for the check at that point in life.
Ideally, you should wait until you are at least 67, but each case is totally unique. Depending on the citizen’s health or energy level, they can apply for Social Security retirement benefits earlier or later. If we apply for payment at the age of 62, we will lose 30% of the money contributed, so we must bear this in mind.
Years worked before retirement and salary
These two elements can be combined into one, although it is true that they are totally independent. The years worked are fundamental when planning retirement, and we must bear in mind that the Administration will calculate our monthly check from the age of 35 with the highest salary.
So, if we have worked less than those 35 years, we will find that our benefit will be greatly reduced. If we average 35 years of work, we will get an adequate figure, but if we average 30 years of work plus 5 years without work, the years without earning a salary will add 0 dollars to the average, which will result in a very large reduction in the final amount.
On the other hand, salary is key to all this since the taxes we pay during our working lives will determine the size of our retirement check. Although not all Americans can get a higher salary, since it does not always depend on them, we could change sectors or ask our boss for a raise.
