5 Social Security Secrets for Even Bigger Checks
Pop quiz! How big is the average Social Security retirement benefit? Do you know? Want to guess? It was recently $1,559 per month -- or about $18,700 per year. If that doesn't sound like a lot to you, you're right -- it isn't. Consider, for example, that the Federal Poverty Level threshold for individuals in 2021 is just $12,880, and the threshold for couples is $17,420 -- not far from that average Social Security benefit. In truth, Social Security only delivers about 40% of pre-retirement income for those with roughly average earnings.
Clearly, anything we can do to make our benefit checks bigger will be well worth considering -- especially those things best done well before retiring. Here are five ways to beef up those benefits.
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Source Fool.com
