Americans who have a Social Security benefit in the United States know that their benefit will not increase unless the COLA kicks in. And that is because once we apply for our monthly retirement check, we cannot increase the amount we get.
For that reason, planning when we are going to apply for retirement is critical. If we don’t have in mind everything we are going to do to apply for our monthly check, it is possible that our Social Security check will be too small. And knowing that it is common for us to have no extra income, this may prove to be a problem at some point in our lives.
How to reach the maximum possible check from Social Security?
In order to qualify to get the largest monthly Social Security check, there are three things to consider. The first of these is retirement age. The second aspect is the years worked. The third and last aspect is the salary during those years worked.
We should maximize as much as possible these three elements in order to get a good monthly check. The idea is very simple in the theoretical plan, although it is true that sometimes it can be complicated in reality. What we should always keep in mind is that we cannot reach the maximum of $4,873 per month in 2024 easily, but we can maximize our options.
Retirement age
We must apply for check at age 70 to get the maximum from Social Security. But it’s not common for an American to be able to wait until 70 by working. So the closer we get to that age, the better monthly check we get.
We can retire at 62, but that will cause us to lose 30% of our Social Security check. So the ideal is to wait until at least age 67, which will give us 100% of the money we have contributed as workers.
Years worked and salary before Social Security
These two aspects are really important and, moreover, they go hand in hand. Before retiring we must work a minimum of 10 years, but that does not imply that we will get a good check. To get the best possible check, we have to wait until we have worked 35 years.
Also, the salary during those years is fundamental to obtain the best possible benefit. The higher the salary, the better the monthly check. But we should also keep in mind that the maximum Social Security check of $4,873 is not available to everyone. However, the more we expand our possibilities, the better our monthly check will be.