3 Key Steps to Unlocking More Social Security Benefits – What You Need to Know!

There are many important factors that affect Social Security benefits in the United States. If we understand these factors, we can live our old age much better. While it is not necessary to have complete control over everything, it is wise to remember that being unaware of these factors can make us face financial losses every month. Thus, not only is the year of retirement important to get a good monthly payout, but planning for it in advance is also equally important.

3 Important Ways to Get More Benefits from Social Security Benefits

• Understand the retirement age: You don’t have to apply for Social Security benefits once you reach age 62, but you have to wait until that age if you want to collect benefits. After this you can apply for Social Security benefits any time, but the intent is to apply around about 70 years. The older you get, the more benefits you’ll get.
• Create a strategy that maximizes our income: Other than retirement age, how long we have worked and how much we were paid determine our Social Security benefits. So if we take proper planning and look after all the portions, we will end up getting more benefits out of it. Therefore, the closer we can get our tenure and income to meshing together, the more our benefits will grow.
• Other Income Sources: Other ways to get monthly income after retirement include Social Security benefits. You can apply for SSI checks, per month, up to a maximum of $967. In addition, there’s also other assistance available, such as SNAP food stamps, to help you live a little easier.

We must keep all these things in mind when we plan for retirement in 2025. But Social Security has to okay our application, because we can’t get a check without that. In 2025, the maximum payment could be up to $5,180. In addition, the Social Security Administration has also set other payment amounts for next month: >

Retirement benefits in 2025

• Average: $1,976
• 62 years: $2,831
• 65 years: $3,374
• 66 years: $3,795
• 67 years: $4,018
• 70 years: $5,108

Survivor benefits in 2025

• Older spouse: $1,832
• Widowed parent and two qualifying children: $3,761
• Older widow (or widower): $1,832

SSDI benefits in 2025

• Average: $1,580

Retirement age impacts Social Security benefits

Millions of Americans want to retire after working for years and receiving Social Security benefits is important. To receive Social Security benefits, applicants can only get full Social Security benefits when they hit the minimum retirement age of 67. But even active workers can retire before they turn 62 and reduce their benefits somewhat. >

See this table for how much your monthly payment will be reduced if you begin receiving benefits at the age of 62 and continue to receive benefits until full retirement age. >

Year of Birth	Retirement Age	Months Between Age 62 and Full Retirement Age	Benefit at Age 62 (if $1000)	Reduction %	Spouse’s Benefit Reduction
1943-1954	66	48	$750	25%	$350
1955	66 and 2 months	50	$741	25.83%	$345
1956	66 and 4 months	52	$733	26.67%	$341
1957	66 and 6 months	54	$725	27.5%	$337
1958	66 and 8 months	56	$716	28.33%	$333
1959	66 and 10 months	58	$708	29.17%	$329
1960 and later	67	60	$700	30%	$325

This table shows us that if we start collecting benefits before retirement age, our monthly payment goes down. Therefore, we should be as much in a position to wait till full retirement age to be awarded maximum benefits.

Conclusion

Planning Social Security benefits is very important. If we are aware of our retirement age, income and tenure, we can take the right steps to enjoy maximum benefits. Everything has to be planned and applied on time if one has to make our future better. >

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