Among the many decisions you need to make as you prepare to retire is when is the best time to start receiving your Social Security retirement income. There are various questions associated with this specific decision, such as:. One of the biggest choices you will have to make is at what age to begin receiving your Social Security benefits. Among the issues you may want to consider include:

Should you apply for Social Security at 62 or 66, or even later?

When should your wife or husband start taking benefits? Here are some guidelines to help you get the maximum Social Security retirement income you are entitled to:

Boost Your Social Security Earnings:

Your Social Security retirement benefits is based on your highest 35 years of earnings as a result it is advisable to get as many "high earning" years in as you can. That is why, staying at work for just one year more in a good earning position could make an impact with your retirement benefit.

Delay Collecting Your Social Security Benefits:

Social Security penalizes you for each month you receive your Social Security before you reach your full retirement age, with the maximum penalty being 25% in instances where you begin collecting benefits at age 62. While collecting your benefits early may very well be luring, those people who are patient can boost their Social Security retirement income by as much as 30% (including COLA increases) just by holding out until full retirement age.

Work Part-Time While in Retirement:

While you are restricted in how much money you are able to earn while you are under full retirement age and receiving Social Security, as you attain full retirement age you are able to get paid as much income as you desire without your retirement benefits being reduced. Yet another thought may be to get a part-time job when you finally retire so that you can postpone applying for Social Security benefits.

Collect Based on Your Husband or Wife's Earnings:

Whenever you are married, you are allowed to collect Social Security spousal benefits based on your own income, or you could collect half of your spouse's benefit, whichever is bigger. If you and your spouse aren't the same age, you may want to do some planning to make sure you get the maximum benefits, however this is undoubtedly a strategy to contemplate if one spouse makes considerably more compared to the other, or even if one spouse has been away from the work force for a few years.

Take advantage of Your Ex's Benefits:

The spousal benefit is true for ex-spouses also. If you were married to your ex-spouse for a minimum of 10 years, and you are not currently married to another individual, you could collect as much as 50% of your ex spouse's benefits. It's not necessary to speak with your ex-spouse to claim your benefits; in fact they will probably never find out if you don't inform them, and it will not have an impact on their benefits in any way.

These are a few ideas to help you to increase your Social Security income. Receiving your Social Security benefits can be an extremely confusing decision and can affect the rest of your retirement, so you should talk to a specialist prior to you making any decisions yourself.

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