Preparing for Retirement? Here's Exactly How to Boost Your Monthly Social Security Payout
Are you looking to squeeze every last possible dime from your retirement benefits? If so, good! You worked hard for them, and you deserve to make the most of what you contributed.
To that end, while some work-related benefit plans are already set in stone, there are a few ways you can still ratchet up your future Social Security payments if you haven't started receiving them yet. Here's a rundown of the best and easiest ways to boost your monthly Social Security payout once you're ready to start collecting.
You're allowed to claim Social Security benefits as early as 62 years of age. Just know that doing so will seriously crimp the amount of your monthly payment. For example, let's assume you've turned 62 this year, and you know you're eligible for a $2,000 monthly benefit at your full retirement age of 67. If you were to start collecting Social Security retirement benefits as soon as possible, your benefit would shrink to $1,400. The gap widens even further when you consider the fact you could be scoring $2,480 per month if you waited until age 70 to start taking payments.
Source Fool.com
