Social Security: 3 Smart Ways to Get More Benefits

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Social Security serves as a key source of income for millions of retirees nationwide. If you're hoping to maximize those benefits when it's your turn to collect, here are a few things you can do.

1. Hold off on filing for benefits

Many people rush to claim Social Security at 62 because it's the earliest possible age to file for benefits. But if you're looking to boost those monthly payments, you'll want to hold off as long as possible -- which means waiting until age 70.

Though your Social Security payments themselves are calculated based on how much you earned during your career, the age at which you first file for benefits can cause that number to go up, go down, or stay the same. If you start taking benefits at what's known as full retirement age, or FRA, you'll get your base benefit amount, so to speak, in full.

Here's what your FRA will look like based on the year you were born:

Year of Birth

FRA

1943-1954

66

1955

66 and 2 months

1956

66 and 4 months

1957

66 and 6 months

1958

66 and 8 months

1959

66 and 10 months

1960

67

 
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