Social security provides income that increases with inflation. Even a small increase in your initial benefit will result in a larger payment each year after you retire. Taking certain actions now and later will allow you to increase the amount of Social Security benefits you will receive, which can help boost your financial security in retirement.
Expand Your Earnings
The Social Security Administration (SSA) relies on a system of credits to figure out whether you qualify for payments. The rule is that you must work in a job covered by Social Security and pay SSA taxes to earn the credits. People who were born in or after 1928 need 40 credits in total to get benefits. In 2021, you earn one credit for every $1,470 you earn. You can earn up to four credits in a year. That means you can get the highest number of credits in a year by earning only $5,880. You don’t need a high income to get benefits when you retire. The more money you earn before you retire, the higher your monthly SSA payouts will be, up to a point. The SSA figures out your benefit amount based on the 35 years where you had the highest average indexed monthly earnings (AIME). It then applies a formula to the earnings to figure out your principal insurance amount (PIA), which is then used to derive your monthly benefit amount. Income over the maximum taxable earnings amount, which changes every year, is not taken into account when determining how much money you will receive. Reaching that income threshold is a worthwhile goal. Doing so can help you increase the amount of the payment you’ll receive after you retire from your job.
Keep on Earning
The SSA uses the 35 years of work history when you earned the most to figure out your AIME. This number is used to figure out your PIA and the monthly amount you will get when you retire, based on your average monthly income. If you earned no income in certain months, your average earnings will go down. In contrast, a higher monthly income will raise your average earnings and result in a larger payment each month. To increase your SSA payments, aim to build 35 years of work history. Try to have few or no long stretches where you don’t earn an income.
Delay the Day You Retire
If you want to increase your SSA income by 24% or more, and you still want to work and are able to do so, don’t retire right away. The SSA grants delayed retirement credits to people who wait until they are past their full retirement age (FRA) to take SSA payments. These credits apply because once you reach your FRA, your payments do not cap out. FRA is figured out by your date of birth. It is age 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. It is reduced by two months for every year before that. The FRA drops no lower than age 65 for those born in or before 1937. For each year after your FRA that you delay taking payments, you will receive an increase in the PIA of 5.5% to 8% per year. The amount depends on when you were born, which raises your payout amount by a fraction of 1% every month. For instance, someone who was born in 1943 or later gets an 8% annual increase in PIA, which amounts to a payout increase of two-thirds of 1% each month. There is no point in waiting past age 70 to file, as these increases are not given past that point.
Coordinate With Your Spouse
If you are married, you and your spouse need to decide as a team how you want to receive Social Security payments. By using survivor and spousal benefits, married couples who coordinate their payment options are likely to increase their benefits more than those who don’t.
Survivor Benefits
The survivor part of SSA gives the spouses of workers the retirement benefits of those who have died. Usually, widows and widowers are eligible for reduced payments at age 60. By waiting until you reach full retirement age to begin survivor benefits, you can get a higher payment each month. If you are eligible for retirement benefits on your own, and your benefit would be higher than your survivor benefit, you can also switch from the survivor benefit to your retirement benefit at age 62.
Combine Benefits
If your living spouse is collecting benefits, you may also be able to claim spousal payments whether you qualify on your own work record or not. If you can get SSA money on your own, but your spousal payments are higher than your retirement benefits, getting spousal benefits would allow you to combine benefits that add up to the higher spousal amount. Likewise, if one of you reached age 62 before January 2, 2016, then you may be able to use a filing strategy called a restricted application to collect spousal payments for a few years. You would then switch over to your own benefit amount when you reach 70 to get the delayed retirement credits and a higher payout.
Get Payments for an Ex-Spouse
If you aren’t married, but you were in the past for at least 10 years, you may still be able to file for spousal or survivor benefits. They would be based on your ex-spouse’s earnings. Too many divorced people are not aware of their payment options based on an ex-spouse’s earnings record. Look at all of your options so that you can claim in a way that makes the most of your income when you retire.
Limit Your Taxes
Under IRS rules, some people will have to pay federal income tax on up to 50% of their benefits. Some may even have to pay 85% tax on their SSA payments if they make a large amount of combined income. The IRS determines combined income by adding nontaxable interest and half of your SSA payments to your adjusted gross income. If your combined income is between $25,000 and $34,000 as an individual filer or between $32,000 and $44,000 as joint filers, you would pay tax on up to 50% of your benefits. If your combined income is over the upper limit of these ranges, you would pay tax on up to 85% of your benefits. You can spread out other income you earn over a period of years rather than getting it all at once. Using this method can help you limit taxes on your payments and keep more of your SSA income. For instance, if you have a 401(k), don’t take too much of it out in one year.
Doing the Math
The best way to get a ballpark figure of your future SSA payments and to see how increases can affect them is to use an online Social Security calculator. For example, the SSA Quick Calculator projects your benefit amount based on your date of birth, your current earnings, and the date you will retire. Plug in a few values to see how your options may impact your payment amount. As you get closer to the day you retire, include your payment amount in an income plan that includes your assets and other sources of income. You’ll get a full picture of what your financial picture will look like once you decide to retire. The information contained in this article is not tax or legal advice and is not a substitute for such advice. State and federal laws change frequently, and the information in this article may not reflect your own state’s laws or the most recent changes to the law. For current tax or legal advice, please consult with an accountant or an attorney.
