4 Social Security Rules You Should Know by Heart
Millions of seniors collect Social Security in retirement, and the more you know about the program, the more money you stand to receive from it. Here are a few important rules you must understand.
You calculate your Social Security benefits by taking your average monthly earnings over your 35 highest-paid years in the workforce, adjusting them for inflation, and applying a special formula to that total. The more money you earn during your career, the bigger the paycheck you'll get from Social Security in retirement, so go after raises and promotions to the best of your ability.
Also, try to work a full 35 years, because if you don't, you'll have $0 factored into your benefits equation for each year you don't have an income on file. If you're missing a year or two of work within that 35-year threshold as retirement nears, extend your career a bit to avoid a lower retirement benefit.
Source Fool.com
