To Maximize Your Social Security Benefits, You Need to Look at the Big Picture
The monthly benefit you're entitled to from Social Security is based on your lifetime wages -- specifically, the amount of money earned during your 35 most profitable years in the labor force. But your actual filing age will also play a role in how much Social Security income you get each month.
You're entitled to your complete monthly Social Security benefit based on your wage history once you reach full retirement age, or FRA. If you were born in 1960, FRA is 67. If you were born earlier, it's either 66 or 66 and a specific number of months.
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Source Fool.com