Did you know that you can maximize the payments you get as Social Security check?

If you have wasted all your planning efforts by focusing solely on your retirement accounts, know that you may have missed an important component: Social Security checks. While for some, these checks are a thing of the past, if you are set to retire in the next few years, you should also focus on maximizing the amount you are going to get from these benefits.

When it comes to being comfortable during your golden years, you should take all the opportunities to generate an income and live comfortably, and these benefits are part of that. This means that it is high time that you start boosting your Social Security checks, and you will find that it is easier than some make it seem!

We gathered some of the easiest ways in which you can get bigger benefit checks from the SSA. Keep on reading to discover them!

#1 Make sure your income is as high as possible

This can be the easiest way in which the check you will receive from Social Security is going to be bigger than otherwise. After all, the amount you are going to get from them is going to be in part based on how much you have earned throughout your life. This meant that by getting paid more, you would end up getting bigger checks when you retired. Depending on what your job is, this can prove to be an easier or harder feat than it presents itself.

Some of the ways in which you can increase your income and paycheck are to focus on getting pay raises on a regular basis (as showing you are valuable to your workplace is going to translate into bigger pay if you know how to present that to your employer) and even to consider changing jobs if you have been stuck in the same position with the same pay when you know you can get a better paycheck somewhere else.

Another way would be to consider changing career paths if you do not have any more professional prospects and would like to do so. After all, getting some more schooling and joining another line of work could both bring you more personal satisfaction and increase your Social Security check down the line!

#2 Talk to a professional

There is nothing shameful about wanting to talk to a professional, and sometimes we need a bit of guidance when it comes to how we can best deal with our finances. This is also true in the case of Social Security benefits and when you should claim them. After all, it is better to make an informed decision when it comes to when you will claim which specific Social Security benefit, and this can translate into bigger checks and even extra thousands of dollars over the course of your life if we are talking about couples!

You can, of course, read about the topic in various books, but sometimes having someone help you get a handle on things is not bad either. Just do your research and choose a reputable company that will be able to help you properly!

#3 Don’t claim benefits too early

When you look at things from a more simplistic lens, the main thing that influences how big or small your checks are is when you end up claiming these benefits from Social Security. The general gist is that you can start claiming these payments shortly after you have turned 62, but at the same time, if you start taking them out, then your payments will be influenced by a penalty because you have not yet reached the full retirement age.

If you start taking Social Security checks at age 62, then your checks can end up being smaller by 20% to 30%, and they will never bounce back at the full sum even if you have reached full retirement age in the meantime.

If you know you can wait, it is advisable to do so if you want to maximize your checks. However, if you have no other choice, be it some unexpected illness, sudden unemployment, or any other unforeseen circumstances, you can always take them out. We just suggest you check for alternate solutions before going down this route.

Likewise, if you know you have an illness that will prevent you from living a long life, you should never wait too long before starting to take advantage of these benefits!

#4 Be sure you know the risks if you take out benefits and are still working

You can still be working when you start to receive your Social Security benefits; however, it is pretty tricky to do this correctly and not ruin the amount you will be receiving with each check. To put it bluntly, it will cost you to have your hand in both bags if you have not yet reached full retirement age. There is nothing wrong with doing that, but you will be receiving less.

The SSA still claims that you will be getting that amount back, just that it will happen after you have reached the full retirement age that they have set in place. Until then, if you are taking both, expect that your checks will be smaller because, for every $2 you earn over the threshold, you can expect as much as $1 to be withheld from your benefit.

Once you have reached retirement age, the amount will go back to the full sum. Still, if you want to receive your full benefits, you should try to withhold claiming them as much as you can.

#5 Make sure you are careful about taxes

Obviously, you should be careful about the way you file your taxes and how you do the whole process so that you minimize the headaches that can come from a badly written form. However, if you are going to be relying solely on Social Security checks as your income in retirement, then taxes are going to be really important. Not only do some states count benefits as part of your retirement income, and they are going to be taxed, but if you have some other type of income, you can expect your benefits to be taxed for a portion as big as 85% of their sum!

t will be different from state to state and depending on your filing status when it comes to federal taxes, so keeping an eye on taxes and the rules regarding benefits may be what counts when it comes to how big or small your checks are!

#6 Wait until you turn 70

If we’re talking about the easiest way to maximize your checks, then it would be unfair to not mention that you can get the biggest checks if you wait a bit longer. Like how your checks will be smaller if you claim them early, it works the same for waiting longer, but your benefit amount will just get bigger.

The administration reported that if you wait until you are 67 years old, you will be getting a monthly benefit equivalent to 108% of the initial sum because you delayed it by 12 months. In the same fashion, if you wait until you are 70, you will be getting a 132% bigger check because you have waited an extra 48 months! Reaching 70 is the way in which you can maximize the total value of your benefits!

So if you are in good health and do not rely on these payments, consider waiting a little bit longer for bigger checks!

If you are worried about the ways in which your retirement income is going to be taxed, read here about all types of retirement income that are not going to be taxed!