7 Ways to Maximize Your Social Security Benefits
Last month, I met with a couple in their early 60s who were planning to both claim Social Security at 62.
“We want to get what’s ours while we can,” they told me.
After running the numbers, I showed them how this decision could cost them over $100,000 in lifetime benefits. Their eyes widened when they realized what was at stake.
This scenario plays out in my office regularly.
Social Security can represent hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime income, yet many people spend more time researching their next phone purchase than they do optimizing this crucial retirement asset.
Let’s change that by breaking down exactly how Social Security works and exploring seven strategies that could significantly increase your benefits.
Understanding How Social Security Works
Before diving into maximization strategies, let’s cover the basics.
Social Security is funded through payroll taxes — those FICA or OASDI deductions you see on every paycheck. Both you and your employer contribute 6.2% of your wages up to the taxable maximum ($176,100 in 2025).
Your benefit is calculated based on your 35 highest-earning years.
The Social Security Administration adjusts these earnings for inflation, calculates your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME), and applies a formula to determine your primary insurance amount (PIA)—what you’ll receive at full retirement age.
Speaking of full retirement age (FRA), this is a crucial number to know.
For most people reading this, it’s between 66 and 67, depending on your birth year. However, you can claim as early as 62 (with a permanent reduction) or delay until 70 (with a significant increase).
With this foundation in mind, let’s explore how to maximize your benefits.
1. Work at Least 35 Years
Social Security calculates your benefit based on your top 35 earning years. If you haven’t worked that long, the formula fills in the gaps with zeros, which lowers your average and reduces your benefit.
Many professionals have years early in their careers with relatively low earnings. By working a few extra years at your peak earning potential, you can replace those lower-earning years in the calculation, potentially increasing your monthly benefit significantly.
For example, replacing just three early-career years where you earned $20,000 with later-career years at $100,000+ could increase your monthly benefit by several hundred dollars.
2. Consider Delaying Your Claim
This might be the most powerful lever you can pull. For each year you delay claiming beyond your FRA (up to age 70), your benefit increases by approximately 8%. That’s a guaranteed return that’s hard to beat in today’s investment landscape.
If your FRA benefit would be $2,000 monthly, waiting until 70 could boost it to nearly $2,500 per month—a 24% increase that continues for the rest of your life.
Of course, this decision involves weighing longevity considerations. The “break-even point” (where waiting yields more total benefits than claiming early) typically occurs in your late 70s to early 80s. Given that someone who reaches 65 today has about a 50% chance of living past 85, delaying often makes mathematical sense.
However, this isn’t just about mathematics—it’s about creating security. A higher monthly benefit provides valuable protection against outliving your other assets and offers inflation-protected income that you can’t outlive.
3. Understand Spousal Benefits
If you’re married, divorced (after at least 10 years of marriage), or widowed, spousal benefits could significantly impact your retirement income.
Married individuals can claim either their own benefit or up to 50% of their spouse’s FRA benefit, whichever is higher. The key requirement: your spouse must have already filed for their own benefits before you can claim a spousal benefit.
This creates planning opportunities, especially for couples with significant earnings differences. Often, it makes sense for the higher earner to delay claiming (increasing both their benefit and the potential survivor benefit) while the lower earner claims earlier.
For divorced individuals who were married at least 10 years and haven’t remarried, you may still be eligible for spousal benefits based on your ex-spouse’s record. This doesn’t reduce their benefit and doesn’t even require their knowledge or consent.
4. Maximize Survivor Benefits
If you’re married, it’s crucial to consider how your claiming decision affects your spouse if you pass away first. When one spouse dies, the survivor receives the higher of either their own benefit or their deceased spouse’s actual benefit (including any delayed retirement credits).
This creates a powerful planning opportunity: Having the higher-earning spouse delay benefits not only increases their lifetime income but also potentially provides a larger survivor benefit that lasts for the remainder of the surviving spouse’s life.
For many couples I work with, this “insurance policy” aspect of delaying the higher earner’s benefit provides valuable peace of mind, knowing the surviving spouse will have the highest possible lifetime income.
5. Minimize Social Security Taxes
Many people don’t realize that Social Security benefits can be taxable. Up to 85% of your benefits might be subject to federal income tax, depending on your total earned income.
For 2025, individual tax filers with combined income between $25,000 and $34,000 may pay tax on up to 50% of their benefits. Above $34,000, up to 85% becomes taxable. For joint filers, these thresholds are $32,000 and $44,000, respectively.
What many miss is that these thresholds aren’t indexed for inflation, meaning more retirees face taxation of benefits each year. Strategic withdrawal planning from different account types (taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free) can help manage your income to minimize this tax impact.
For example, drawing from Roth accounts in certain years might keep your income below these thresholds, reducing the taxation of your Social Security benefits.
6. Check Your Earnings Record
Your benefit calculation is only as accurate as the earnings record it’s based on. Mistakes happen—employers may have reported incorrect information, or earnings might be missing entirely.
Create a My Social Security account at ssa.gov to review your earnings history. Compare it against your tax records and past W-2s, especially for years where you changed employers.
If you find discrepancies, gather documentation (tax returns, W-2s, pay stubs) and contact the Social Security Administration promptly. While they can correct errors at any time, it becomes more challenging to resolve issues from many years ago.
7. Integrate Social Security with Your Overall Retirement Plan
Perhaps the most important tip: Don’t make Social Security decisions in isolation. Your claiming strategy should be part of a comprehensive retirement income plan that considers:
- Your other income sources (pensions, investments, etc.)
- Your expected longevity based on health and family history
- Your tax situation now and in retirement
- Your spouse’s benefits and claiming strategy
- Your retirement spending needs and goals
Sometimes it makes financial sense to draw from retirement accounts first, allowing your Social Security benefit to grow. In other situations, claiming earlier might help preserve your investment portfolio or reduce sequence-of-returns risk.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, which is why personalized analysis is so valuable.
Moving Forward
Social Security represents a significant retirement asset for most Americans—often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime benefits. The decisions you make about when and how to claim can dramatically impact your financial security throughout retirement.
Take the time to understand your options, run the numbers, and develop a strategy that maximizes this valuable resource.
Remember that the best Social Security strategy isn’t necessarily the one that delivers the most money mathematically—it’s the one that provides the security and peace of mind you need for your unique retirement journey.
Your claiming decision may well be one of the most financially significant choices you make. Approach it with the care and consideration it deserves.
