Social Security is having money problems, and it is possible that the program will run out of money in about ten years. It is easy to see why this worries a lot of workers who depend on it as a big part of their retirement income.
There is not much reason to worry that younger workers will not get any benefits, but it is possible that future beneficiaries will get smaller checks than current retirees.
This is especially frustrating for people who may not have been able to save as much for retirement on their own.
There are, however, things you can do to make sure you get the most out of Social Security under the current system, even though you can not change the way it works in general.
Work for at Least 35 Years
The number of years you work is one of the most important things that determines how much Social Security you will get. Your benefit amount is based on your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME), which are calculated by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
To be more specific, they look at your income over the 35 years when you made the most money, taking inflation into account. This calculation has a direct effect on how much your future checks will be.
People with as little as 10 years of work history can get Social Security benefits, but it is important to know that if you have less than 35 years of work history, your benefits will be much lower.
This is because any years that are missing from the 35-year time are seen as years with no income. Because these zeros are added to your average, your total AIME and, by extension, your monthly benefit amount go down.
Choose the Right Time to Apply for Social Security Benefits
The age at which you apply for Social Security is another important factor that affects how much you get.
Your full retirement age (FRA) is the oldest age at which you can get the full amount of funds from Social Security. Based on your birth year, this age is between 66 and 67 for most people today.
You can begin collecting Social Security as early as age 62, but your monthly payments will be permanently lowered if you do. In fact, if you apply before your FRA, your checks could be up to 30% less.
Delaying your application past your FRA, on the other hand, can cause your monthly payments to go up by a lot. In particular, your benefits go up by about 8% for every year you wait past your FRA (up to age 70). This can make your checks as much as 32% bigger.
It might seem like a clear way to increase your total income to put off getting benefits, but it is not always the best choice for everyone. If you wait until age 70, you will get fewer checks over the course of your lifetime.
This may not make sense for people who need money quickly or who have a shorter life expectancy. These changes could mean that people with major health problems get less money from Social Security than if they had claimed earlier.
Coordinate with Your Spouse if You’re Married
People who are married have to think about when to claim Social Security more carefully because it affects both your benefits and the benefits of your spouse.
People who are married can get both their own retirement benefit based on their work experience and a benefit for their spouse. If your partner has already signed up for their benefits, you can not get a spousal benefit.
The larger of the two options will be given to you by the Social Security Administration, but you can not get one unless your partner has already signed up for their benefits.
When both partners have pretty much the same amount of work history, it is likely that each will take their own retiring benefits. In these situations, both partners usually need to put off their applications for as long as possible in order to get the most total benefits.
This plan might not work for everyone, though, especially if one or both partners has health problems or money problems that make waiting hard.
If one partner has made a lot more money over the course of their life, it may make sense for the person who makes less to start getting benefits sooner.
With this early income, the better earner might be able to put off filing their claim, which would increase their benefit in the long run.
If a lower-earning partner can switch to a spousal benefit that pays more than their own benefit after the higher-earning spouse claims Social Security, they can.
Also see:-Important Update on November SNAP Payments – New Dates Announced
