Social Security Income: Ideas To Help You Make The Most Of Your Social Security Benefits
As you move closer to retirement, selecting when to start your Social Security retirement benefits might seem similar to throwing darts at a dart board. There are lots of choices to make, like:. One of the primary choices you need to make is at what age to begin receiving your Social Security retirement benefits. A few of the questions you may need to think about include:
Should you apply for Social Security at 62 or 66, or even later?
At what age should your spouse start collecting Social Security?
What happens to your spouse's benefits (and yours) when he/she dies?
Can you collect on your spouse's earnings record if he/she earned more than you?
Are you able to collect on an ex-spouse's benefits?
If your head wasn't spinning before, it is now! Here are some tips to help you get the maximum Social Security retirement income you are entitled to:
Increase Your Social Security Earnings:
Your Social Security retirement benefits is dependent on your highest 35 years of earnings hence it is advisable to get as many "high earning" years in as possible. For this reason, working just one year more in a significant compensating position might make a big difference in your retirement benefit.
Delay Collecting Your Social Security Income:
Social Security penalizes you for each month you receive your Social Security before you reach your full retirement age, with the highest penalty being 25% if where you start taking benefits at age 62. Although collecting your benefits early could be attractive, those people who are patient can increase their Social Security income by up to 30% (including COLA increases) simply by holding out until full retirement age.
Work Part-Time While in Retirement:
While you're limited in how much you can make while you are under full retirement age and receiving Social Security, when you finally attain full retirement age you'll be able to earn as much as you want without your retirement benefits being decreased. One other thought could be to get a part-time job when you retire so that you can delay taking Social Security benefits.
Collect Based on Your Husband or Wife's Earnings:
When you're married, it is possible to collect Social Security spousal benefits based on your own earnings, or you can collect half of your spouse's benefit, whichever is larger. If you and your spouse aren't the same age, you may want to do some planning to ensure you get the maximum benefits, however this is undoubtedly a strategy to think about if one spouse earns significantly more compared to the other, or even if one spouse has been away from the work force for quite a while.
Take advantage of Your Ex's Benefits:
The spousal benefit pertains to ex-spouses too. If you were married to your ex-spouse for at least 10 years, and you are not currently married to somebody else, you'll be able to collect as much as 50% of your ex spouse's benefits. You don't have to communicate with your ex-spouse to claim your benefits; in fact they will probably never learn if you don't inform them, also it won't have an effect on their benefits in any way.
These are a few suggestions to help you get the maximum Social Security retirement income. Receiving your Social Security retirement benefits can be a very complex decision and will have an effect on the rest of your retirement, so you should check with a specialist prior to you making any decisions yourself.
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