From a distance, Social Security seems like a pretty straightforward program. You pay into the system while you're working. Then, once you retire, you collect from it. While that holds true in general, the specifics in the way it is designed means you have some flexibility in how you collect it and how you use the money in your retirement plan.

With that in mind, there are several different strategies you can use with Social Security to have it help bankroll your retirement. Some of them require pre-planning, though, so it's best to get started well before you're ready to collect. These three strategies should give you some great ideas on how to leverage Social Security as part of a larger plan.

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Source Fool.com