Personal Finance

I Want More Out of Social Security. How Do I Get It?

Maurie Backman

Published: November 24, 2024 8:33 am

Saving a lot of money for retirement can only guarantee you so much financial security during your senior years. If you mismanage your IRA or 401(k), you risk running out of money at some point in time. And if your investments underperform, you risk not having enough income to do the thing you’ve always wanted.

That’s why it’s helpful to lock in as large a monthly Social Security check as you can. The average retired worker today collects $1,924 a month, which amounts to about $23,000 per year. But if you play your cards right, you can do even better.

Key Insights from 24/7 Wall St.

• The average Social Security benefit today is $1,924.
• Your monthly retirement benefit is tied to your lifetime earnings.
• A delayed Social Security claim could put more money in your pocket.
• Also: Take this quiz to see if you’re on track to retire^(Sponsored)

It pays to grow your monthly benefits

You might assume you don’t need to focus on getting more out of Social Security if you have a lot of savings. But remember, those monthly benefits are yours to enjoy for life. So while your savings have the potential to run out on you, Social Security can’t.

You should know that your monthly retirement benefit from Social Security is tied to your earnings history. Social Security takes your 35 highest-paid years of earnings into account when calculating your benefit. So if you want a larger check in retirement, make sure to work a full 35 years.

It can also be a good idea to extend your career if you find that you’re at your peak earning years later in life. Say you’re 65 with a $200,000 salary you only started earning a couple of years ago. You may be ready to retire, and you might have enough savings to pull that off. But if you work one more year, you might replace a year of $60,000 in earnings with a year where you earn more than three times that much, leading to higher Social Security checks for life.

Your filing age matters

Aside from your earnings history, the other factor that dictates how much Social Security you’ll get in retirement is your filing age. Delaying your claim beyond full retirement age boosts your monthly checks on a permanent basis.

Once you turn 70, you can’t keep accruing delayed retirement credits. But if your full retirement age is 67, you have an opportunity to boost your monthly benefit up to 24%.

Get an estimate now so you know what you’re working with

You have options for getting more Social Security in retirement, but before you explore them, take the time to get an estimate of your expected benefit so you know what number you’re dealing with as a baseline. You can do so by creating an account on the Social Security Administration’s website and accessing your most recent earnings statement.

If your estimated monthly benefit is higher than you expect it to be, you may not need to take the steps above, like extending your career if that’s not your preference or waiting longer to start getting Social Security checks. But rest assured that if your estimated benefit is lower than expected, you have options for making it bigger.