8 Ways to Increase Social Security Benefits

Delaying your start date is one way to ensure the highest monthly benefit — but other options are worth exploring.
Liz Weston, CFP®
By Liz Weston, CFP®  
Updated
Edited by Rick VanderKnyff  
increase-social-security-benefits

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Knowing how to increase Social Security benefits is important, since those checks will likely be a major source of your income in retirement.

Unfortunately, many people don’t understand how Social Security really works. They claim too early, miss out on important benefits and fail to use strategies that could boost their lifetime income. Their mistakes can cost them as much as $250,000, researchers have estimated.

Here are eight ways to increase your Social Security benefits.

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