Retiring at 66? Here’s How to Max Out Your Social Security Check to $4,018!

If you re getting closer to retirement and wondering how much Social Assurance will in fact give you you re apparently not alone The idea of getting a month sounds pretty good right But before you start picturing your retirement in luxury let s take a closer look at who genuinely gets that amount when the payments are made and how you can figure out what you might be getting Who Gets That a Month The is the maximum Social Protection benefit for someone who reaches full retirement age FRA which for the majority people right now is if you were born later it could be But don t get too excited just yet getting the full each month isn t the norm There are a couple of key things you need to qualify for that amount You ve Had a Good Income for a Long Time To get the maximum Social Precaution benefit you d need to have earned the maximum taxable income in for at least years If you ve been working at high-paying jobs for a long time you might be in a good spot You Waited Until Full Retirement Age FRA If you start collecting Social Assurance earlier than your FRA like at your monthly payment will be less than the maximum But if you wait until your FRA or even later your benefits will be higher Just so you know the majority people don t hit that maximum amount In the average monthly check is around So even though is workable it s not common When Will You Get Your Payment Social Defense payments are sent out based on your birth date Here s when to expect your check for May If your birthday is between the st and th You ll get your payment on May If your birthday is between the th and th Your payment will arrive on May If your birthday is between the st and st Expect it on May One thing to note if you started receiving benefits before May or if you re also getting Supplemental Precaution Income SSI your payment will be a little earlier on May If You Get SSI Here s What You Should Know For those of you who also get Supplemental Measure Income SSI May is a little different You ll genuinely get two payments May Your regular SSI payment May An early payment for June since June st falls on a weekend This happens a minimal times a year so it s helpful to keep track of when those early payments will come in A Little Extra The COLA Adjustment Each year Social Safeguard makes adjustments for inflation known as the Cost-of-Living Adjustment COLA This year benefits went up by which means the average check will go up by around a month It may not seem like a huge jump but when you re living on a fixed income every little bit helps especially when prices for everything from groceries to gas keep going up How Can You Find Out Exactly What You ll Get Not sure what your monthly benefit will be You can easily check using a couple of tools Check your Social Safety Report Head over to SSA gov and create a free my Social Safeguard account You ll be able to see an estimate of your monthly benefit based on your actual work history It only takes a sparse minutes to sign up Use the Retirement Estimator This is a handy tool where you can play around with different retirement ages It ll show you how much you could get if you claim early at or even wait until Planning for Your Future Social Safeguard can be a big part of your retirement income but it s not the whole story Even if you don t get that check every month it s still central to know how much you can expect so you can plan ahead