Social Security Benefits

Know how to maximize your Social Security benefits. Most people are able to collect their Social Security benefits when they reach the age of 62, but it is important for you to know that your benefits increase each year they are not taken until you reach age 70. The amount of your Social Security benefits are determined by the history of your earnings during your lifetime. Outside earnings may reduce your Social Security benefits until your reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA). The FRA varies and it is age 65 for those born before 1938 and increasing to age 67 for those born in 1960 and later.

In order to be eligible for retirement benefits you will need to have worked for at least 10 years or 40 quarters of credit. You are able to delay recieving your Social Security benefits unitl age 70 and you will receive Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) for doing that. Depending on your age, your monthly benefit will increase by 6.5 to 8 percent per year for each year that your Social Security benefits are deffered unitl age 70.

Most Social Security retirement benefits are tax free. Although some people with higher incomes must include up to 85 percent of their Social Security benefits in their taxable incomes.