Although many people do their best to save well for retirement, building a large nest egg is easier said than done. From mortgage payments to child care expenses, many workers struggle to fund their savings because their paychecks are monopolized by too many near-term expenses.

It's not all that surprising, then, that the median retirement savings balance among Americans aged 65 to 74 is only $200,000, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances. But if we apply the famous 4% rule to a balance that size, it only allows for about $8,000 in annual income.

As such, it's easy to see why so many retirees wind up extremely reliant on Social Security to cover their expenses. And if that's the boat you expect to be in, then you'll want to do everything within your power to lock in as generous a monthly benefit as possible.

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Source Fool.com