Social Security: How to get higher benefits when you retire

Millions of Americans collect Social Security every month as a means of income, but it’s suggested to have an additional source.

Social Security was only designed to cover 40% of your previous wages.

This means you’ll need to maintain 70-80% another way to live comfortably and maintain the lifestyle you’re used to.

Whether or not you have that extra savings, it’s still a good idea to boost your Social Security benefits as much as possible.

Is your SS benefit raise falling short? Here’s a tip

Here are three ways to get the biggest Social Security benefit possible

Increase your benefits while you still work

Your benefits will be based on what you earn in the time you work.

They’re based on an average of your 35 highest earning years.

This means you want at least 35 solid years of income before claiming benefits.

To make your Social Security even higher, you can boost your yearly salary by picking up a side hustle.

Pay attention or risk losing $1000s in Social Security benefits

Wait to collect benefits for as long as you can

The longer you wait to collect benefits, the bigger they will be.

You’ll get 100% of your benefits if you retire at your full retirement age, which is 66 or 67 depending on your year of birth.

If you manage to push it off until the age of 70, you could see an 8% increase for each year you waited.

If you filed earlier than you wanted, undo it

The earliest you can file for Social Security benefits is age 62.

If you choose to do this, the payment amounts are permanent and you can see a drop of 30%.

You get one chance from the Social Security Administration to undo your premature filing.

Unfortunately, you’ll need to repay all of the benefits you received in full.

If you can do this and claim later on, your benefits will be bigger.