How to Maximize Your Social Security Benefits
Now that you understand a little more about how Social Security retirement benefits work, and how important this income stream can be to your retirement, here are some tips to help you get the maximum Social Security benefits you are entitled to:
Maximize Your Social Security Earnings
Your retirement benefit is based on your top 35 years of earnings so it’s important to get as many “high earning” years in as possible. If you’re at the top of your career as far as income goes, working just one year longer in a high paying job could make a big difference in your retirement benefit.
Delay Taking Your Social Security Benefits
Under the current Social Security Act, you are penalized for every month you take your Social Security benefits before you reach your full retirement age, with the maximum penalty being 25%.
While starting your benefits early might be tempting, those who are patient can increase their benefits by up to 30% (including COLA adjustments) by waiting until full retirement age. And for every year you wait to collect benefits after full retirement age, you’ll gain an additional 8% in benefits.
Work Part-Time During Retirement
While you are limited in how much you can earn if you are under full retirement age and collecting Social Security, once you reach full retirement age you can earn as much as you want without your retirement benefits being reduced.
Given this, and given the recent stock market performance, another idea for people who are retiring soon is to take a part-time job after you retire so that you can delay taking Social Security benefits for as long as possible.
Collect Benefits Based On Your Spouse’s Earnings
If you’re ma
rried, you can withdraw Social Security retirement 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 need to do some planning to make sure you maximize your benefits, but this is definitely a strategy to consider if one spouse earns significantly more than the other, or if one spouse has been out of the work force for many years.
Tap Into Your Ex’s Social Security Benefits
The spousal benefit applies to ex-spouses too. If you were married to your ex-spouse for at least 10 years, and you aren’t currently married to someone else, you can collect up to 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 never know unless you tell them, and it won’t affect their benefits in any way.
Also, unlike the spousal benefit, ex-spouses don’t have to wait for their ex-spouse to start collecting benefits… they can apply for Social Security based on the ex-spouse’s earnings as soon as they are eligible (i.e., age 62, however, your benefits will be reduced for every year you collect before you reach full retirement age).
As you can see, there are things you can do to increase your retirement benefits. With higher taxes, lower returns on investments, and the possibility of inflation down the road, it’s important that you get the maximum Social Security benefits you are entitled to.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I and my ex are both on disability he is 56 and I am 55. By taking part of his benefits now does that mean that when he dies I can not collect the full amount?
My wife is 66 and receiving social security payments from her dead husbands account.Since she can not also get her benefit because she is drawing against her dead husbands,can I ,since I am 64, be able to receive 50% of her social security,as spousal benefit,actual amount will be less than 50% BECAUSE I AM BELOW FRA.Since that amount will be less than my own ,I may not be able to get hers and only oprion is my own,then can she get 50% of mine and still get her dead husbands as well ?
Linda – you can’t collect Social Security retirement benefits (either under your own record or your husband’s) until you reach age 62, so I’m assuming that you are asking about disability benefits. Disability benefits are completely independent of retirement benefits, so whatever disability benefits you are collecting now will not affect your retirement benefits later, regardless of whether you collect retirement benefits under your own earning record or your husbands.
Don – you can only collect one Social Security retirement benefit, so no your wife can’t collect both her deceased husband’s benefit and her own (or 1/2 of yours). You should consult with a Social Security or retirement specialist to determine your options and the best route for you to maximize your family’s benefits. Please contact me through the Contact screen if you’re interested in setting up a consultation.
My brother passed away and his wife is already getting SSD, since he
passed is she able to collect on my brothers social security since he
had a larger amount of money each month. Also he left a small
life insurance policy will that affect her SSD, and benefits that she
now receives?
I’ve read several article that say my wife can receive 50% of my Social Security benefit if she waits till her FRA to start taking SS benefits. Will it affect how much my wife will get if I take my SS at age 62 or 66? She’s 7 years older and will start drawing her full SS benefit before I’m eligible.
In other words, does she get 50% of my full benefit or 50% of my reduced benefit if I take SS at 62 .
Thanks,
Norm
.-= Norman L Welte´s last blog ..Threadless Tshirt Giveaway at jaypeeonline.net =-.
I started collecting SS when I turned 62 on my own record. SS ofice told me to come back when I turned 65, and I could claim on my ex-husbands earnings (was married 21 years). I went in this week to apply and was told I could have been claiming on my ex-s earning 3 years ago! The difference is 250/m. I could have rec’d $8000 over this 3 year period. How do I reclaim this money?
I would like to know when I can collect my ex-hubands social security. When he is 62 or do I have to be of age? Will I continue to recieve his benifits after his death?
My mother is 62. She has stopped working full-time involuntarily due to economic downturn. Now, she is considering working part-time before claiming full benefits at 66 years old.
Her income from working part-time will be less than $800 a month. Also, she was a homemaker until she was 39 when she started working full-time to help with our family income.
If she starts working part-tme will her full benefits at 66 be reduced as it takes the average of her income for the last 35 years? Or it will help since she hasn’t been working for 35 years anyhow?
Thanks,
Tom
I divorced in 2008 after 38 years. I applied for SSD but was denied because I did not have enough work credits. I am 58 and do not work because of disability since 2003. Can I collect SSD on my ex-spouses earnings? He is 62.
I started drawing social security @ 62 yrs & 3 months, my FRA is 66, born 1943. after 24 months I went back to work and was penalized 100% so did not draw for 24 months. I am now 66yr and drawing. Social Security still reduces my monthly benefit by 23.3% which is 45 months of penalty. I believe I should only be penalized for the number of months I drew SS between 62 and 66 (a 24 month penalty) 13.3% rather than 23.3%. If been on the phone 6 times with SS reps and visited my local office 1 time and can’t get this issue resolved to my satisfaction. What recourse do I have? How do I get a correct calculation. No one that I’ve spoken to at SS seems to understand how to calculate a penalty.
I have been receiving benefits on my ex-husbands social security. He recently died and I was notified that my social security payment would increase. Is that right?
I have a friend that is 62, working full time. Her husband is out of work, old enough to collect ssi but is waiting for age 67 to get max benefit. Isn’t there a way that she can receive 1/2 of his benefit now?
How do I collect a part of my ex husbands social security when I reach 62 in July?
I don’t have a comment but I have a question. In order for a person to collect off an ex husbands ssbenefits they need to have been married ten years. Is it considered 10 years from the day papers were filed or is ten years till the divorce is final.
I have been collecting Social Security benefits in the amount of $1048 monthly. I do have a job as an independent contractor. What is the maximum I can make in addition to my social security without being penalized. Is it based on gross income, adjusted gross income or taxable income. Thank you……Mary Susan Lewis
Can I stay on my current job and still collect social security when I reach the full age of 66?
Kristine: I have seen a number of internet articles regarding Social security Spousal benefits when the Working Spouse it older; My situation is my non working wife is older and will reach retirement age 3 1/2 years before I do. What options does my wife have for spousal social security when she reaches retirement age? She worked a little bit years ago but does not have enough credits for her own SS benefit. From what little I have seen it appears my wife cannot get any benefits until I retire – so she loses out on 3 1/2 years of spousal benefits simply because I am older than she is. I saw a claim ans suspend strategy – but I think that also can’t be done until I reach full retirement age. Do you know of any option for my wife to get my spousal benefit when she reaches FRA even though I have not?
Dave – thank you for the comment/question. Your wife is entitled to benefits based on your account, even if she doesn’t have enough work history to qualify for benefits on her own. You must be married for one-year for her to collect benefits on your account; if you divorce you must have been married for at least 10 years for her to qualify for benefits on your account.
Non-working spouses are eligible for one-half of their husband’s primary insurance amount (the amount he would collect at full retirement age), so your wife will be able to collect up to one-half of your benefit.
Unfortunately, the fact that she is older than you could present some timing issues. The earliest your wife can collect benefits is at age 62. However, if she collects benefits early, those benefits will be reduced for every month she collects benefits before she reaches full retirement age. The other issue is that you must be receiving benefits already in order for her to collect benefits based on your account. So if you wait until you reach full retirement age to start collecting benefits, your wife will have to wait as well.
You mentioned the file and suspend strategy. Under this strategy you could file for benefits at age 62, thus allowing your wife to collect benefits on your account, and then suspend your benefits until a later date (full retirement age, for example). This is a great way for non-working spouses to collect benefits while the working spouse continued to work and thus allow his benefit to grow. This strategy is still available, but you must withdraw your application for benefits within 12 months of first collecting them, and you are allowed to use this strategy just once in your lifetime.
My husband recently passed away. I would like to know if I can draw off of his SSI. I am 64 and I still work. I will be 65 next year. What are my choices?
Patricia – My condolences on your husband passing. As his widow you have a couple of options regarding Social Security.
You mentioned that you are 64 and still working. If you have earned enough credits on your own (40 credits or approx 10 years), then you may qualify for benefits on your own work history. You are eligible to start collecting retirement benefits as early as age 62, although those benefits will be discounted for every month before you reach full retirement age (66 for people born between 1943-1954).
You may also be entitled to benefits based on your deceased husband’s work record. Generally, a widow is entitled to receive benefits on her deceased husband’s account beginning at age 60, or as early as age 50 if she is totally disabled. However, similar to retirement benefits, if you start collecting survivor benefits before full retirement age, those benefits will be discounted. One strategy is to start collecting survivor benefits now and switch to your own benefits at age 66 if they will be higher than the survivor benefit.
You should notify Social Security and apply for Social Security benefits right away if you haven’t done so already. To apply, call the Social Security Administration or visit the closest office to you. You will need to provide proof of death (death certificate or proof from a funeral home), your Social Security number and your husband’s Social Security number, your birth certificate, marriage certificate, and income information for your husband (from W-2s or income tax returns) for the most recent year.
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