5 Steps to Maximize Your Social Security Benefit
Should you take benefits ASAP or wait? It's the million-dollar retirement question, but it's far from the only factor involved in making the most of your Social Security nest egg. There are other possibilities to consider as well.


As a source of guaranteed income, Social Security is a vital part of a retirement plan. However, far too many people give scant thought to their options when claiming benefits. Instead, they opt to claim at one of three distinct periods: at the earliest possible opportunity, at full retirement age or at the latest possible opportunity. By failing to examine all your options, you could be leaving money on the table.
More than half of Americans cite Social Security as the largest component of their retirement income as they approach the end of their careers. Fortunately, if you follow a few specific steps, you can ensure that you have the best possible information available about the pros and cons of claiming at different ages. By arming yourself with information, you can position yourself to maximize your monthly Social Security benefit, creating a more comfortable retirement.
The ABCs of Social Security Benefits
The federal government bases your Social Security benefit on the 35 years of your work history where you earned the most. For those with an uninterrupted work history spanning greater than 35 years, that means that years of low earnings are dropped from the calculation, increasing your overall benefit.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
However, those with interrupted work histories or who started working later or quit working early may not have a complete history of 35 years. In those cases, zeros are substituted for those years for benefit calculation purposes.
You need a minimum of 10 years of work history to receive Social Security benefits, except in the case of a non-working spouse of a worker with that type of employment history. Non-working ex-spouses who were married for 10 years or more also qualify based on their former spouse’s employment record.
Under the current Social Security system, you can begin to receive benefits at any time beginning at age 62 and ending at age 70. While claiming at age 62 puts income in your bank account at the earliest possible opportunity, that decision comes at a cost. Figure 1 shows how a benefit of $1,000 a month expected at full retirement age is impacted by claiming early and claiming later. Claiming at age 62 reduces the monthly benefit by 25% while waiting until age 70 increases the benefit by 32%. There is no benefit to be gained by waiting until after age 70 to claim under the current benefits law.
Figure 1: Advantages of Waiting to Claim Social Security
Header Cell - Column 0 | Start at 62 | Start at Full Retirement Age | Start at 70 |
---|---|---|---|
Monthly Benefit | $750 | $1,000 | $1,320 |
Yearly Benefit | $9,000 | $12,000 | $15,840 |
Aggregate Benefits Paid Through age 85 | $216,000 | $240,000 | $253,440 |
If you were born in 1955 or later, the age at which you can receive full retirement benefits is between 66 and 67, depending on your date of birth.
How to Understand Your Benefit
Every year, the Social Security Administration produces statements for beneficiaries. You must access your statement online, unless you are over age 60, in which case you can still receive a snail mail version. Social Security also offers an online Retirement Estimator tool, which you can find at https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html. It’s recommended that you sign up for a Social Security online account to access the system, which you can do at https://www.ssa.gov/site/signin/en/.
The Retirement Estimator tool provides information about:
- Your estimated benefit at full retirement age
- Your estimated benefit at age 70
- Your estimated benefit at age 62
- Your earnings history
- Estimated total Social Security and Medicare taxes paid by you and your employers
Your estimated benefits change from year to year based on your current earnings, which Social Security assumes will continue until retirement. That’s why an old estimate may no longer be valid, especially if you have changed employers, jobs or the time you spend on the job.
You only receive Social Security credits for jobs where you and your employer pay into the system. So, if you work “off the books,” those earnings won’t increase your eventual Social Security benefit.
To ensure that your earnings history is correct, go through it and make sure nothing is missing. If there are inaccuracies, you can contact Social Security either by phone or over the website to correct those issues. You want to ensure your earnings history is correct because the Social Security Administrations uses your past earnings history to calculate your future benefits.
5 Strategies for Maximizing Your Benefit
To determine the best way to maximize your monthly Social Security benefit, follow these five steps:
Strategy #1: Analyze your life expectancy
Discuss your family history and current health status with your health care providers to get a reliable picture of how long you can expect to live, keeping in mind that most retirees underestimate their life expectancies. While this process may feel morbid, it is essential for getting the most out of your Social Security benefit. If your family tends to have strong longevity, it can make sense to delay benefits. However, if you have a serious or chronic health condition, it might make sense to claim earlier.
Strategy #2: Understand the range of benefits available
Contextualize your retirement earnings by analyzing how much your income would be each month if you drew on Social Security at each age and contrasting this with your lifetime benefit at each age. This is called an income gap analysis, which you can conduct using the estimated benefits provided by Social Security. Social Security offers a number of useful calculators to help you get a better grip on your benefits and retirement at https://www.ssa.gov/planners/calculators/.
Strategy #3: Maximize your current earnings
Increasing your earnings is one of the best ways to maximize your ultimate benefit. Any higher earning years later in life will replace lower earning years if you have 35 years of work earnings history. If you don’t, maxing out your earnings history as much as possible can only help in terms of receiving additional credits that translate into a higher benefit.
Strategy #4: Coordinate spousal benefits
Married couples will have many more options to review when deciding when to file. If you were born on or before Jan. 1, 1954, once you reach full retirement age (assuming you have NOT yet claimed your benefits) you can use a restricted application to claim a spousal benefit. This allows your own benefit to continue to grow. You could then switch to your own higher benefit amount when you reach age 70. If you were born after Jan. 1, 1954, this option is no longer available.
In that case, consider the benefits of receiving Social Security benefits versus continuing to work. To do this, you need to consider what your benefit would be if you retired now versus what it would be later if you continue to work. It’s also a good idea to factor in age differences, life expectancy differences, benefit differences and retirement timelines when deciding when each spouse should claim. Check out these resources for more information: Married Couples: Coordinate Social Security Claims to Boost Benefits and Social Security Factors for Married Couples.
Strategy #5: Integrate Social Security into your retirement income plan
The income gap analysis you completed in Step #3 comes in handy here as you can then use the information you’ve gathered to determine how the potential amounts of Social Security benefit available to you at various ages aligns with your overall spending needs. An income gap analysis is extremely useful in gaining visibility into your entire retirement income plan. The difference between the benefit and the spending needs is the true income amount needed from your other retirement accounts.
Without knowing that you have maximized Social Security benefits you may be over stressing the other retirement income sources by making larger withdrawal distributions than you actually need. This may result in your retirement accounts being spent down faster than they need to be or over/under exposure of certain investment asset allocations in order to gain needed income.
Amy Buttell contributed to this article.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Robert Trejo is a Certified Financial Fiduciary®, an Investment Adviser Representative and Senior Managing Partner of Coeus Financial, an independent, full-service wealth management firm.
-
Savings Goal Calculator
Tools Want to know how much you need to save each month to reach your financial goals? Our calculator helps you build a realistic savings plan.
-
Cash vs. Mortgage: How to Pay for Your Second Home
Should you buy your second home outright or finance it with a loan? Weigh the pros, cons and tax implications before making the leap.
-
Gray Divorce Can Throw Your Retirement a Curveball: What to Know
If you're entering retirement and going through a divorce at the same time, you've got some work to do to shore up your long-term financial security.
-
How an Expired Passport Thwarted Blackmail (and What Other Important Documents You Should Keep)
An optometrist produced his expired passport to foil a blackmail attempt by the daughter of a former employee. After proving he was out of the country on the date of a forged diary entry, he took it a step further.
-
Optimize, Grow, Retain: The Power of Annual Client Reviews
Financial advisers can use annual reviews to help enhance client outcomes, strengthen relationships and build their practice.
-
Don't Disinherit Your Grandchildren: The Hidden Risks of Retirement Account Beneficiary Forms
Standard retirement account beneficiary forms may not be flexible enough to ensure your money passes to family members according to your wishes. Naming a trust as the contingent beneficiary can help avoid these issues. Here's how.
-
This Is How Life Insurance Can Fund Your Dreams Now
Beyond a death benefit, life insurance can provide significant financial value and flexibility through 'living benefits' while you are still alive, helping with expenses like education, business ventures or retirement.
-
Potential Trouble for Retirees: A Wealth Adviser's Guide to the OBBB's Impact on Retirement
While some provisions might help, others could push you into a higher tax bracket and raise your costs. Be strategic about Roth conversions, charitable donations, estate tax plans and health care expenditures.
-
One Small Step for Your Money, One Giant Leap for Retirement
Saving enough for retirement can sound as daunting as walking on the moon. But what would your future look like if you took one small step toward it this year?
-
This Is What You Really Need to Know About Medicare, From a Financial Expert
Health care costs are a significant retirement expense, and Medicare offers essential but complex coverage that requires careful planning. Here's how to navigate Medicare's various parts, enrollment periods and income-based costs.