You probably can't imagine life without Social Security, and yet, even with its regular monthly checks, it's not always easy to make ends meet. The average monthly benefit as of March 2025 was just $1,997 for retired workers.
Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) will give you a little more cash over time. But there's another way you can boost your benefits -- and it could raise the average check by $160 per month.
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Timing is everything for Social Security claims
You've probably heard that your Social Security benefit is based on your income during your working years, but it's not the whole truth. Your earnings history determines your primary insurance amount (PIA). That's the amount you receive if you sign up at your full retirement age (FRA) -- 67 for most workers today.
You can sign up at any time between 62 and 70, though. Signing up under your FRA reduces your PIA substantially. If you have an FRA of 67, you'll only get 70% of your PIA per check by applying right away at 62.
Put another way, your checks increase for every month you delay Social Security. This continues until you qualify for your maximum benefit at 70. The rate of increase picks up over time. The table shows how quickly your benefits grow if you have an FRA of 67:
|
Benefits Increase by |
From |
|---|---|
|
Five-twelfths of 1% per month (5% per year) |
62 to 64 |
|
Five-ninths of 1% per month (6.67% per year) |
64 to 67 |
|
Two-thirds of 1% per month (8% per year) |
67 to 70 |
Data source: Social Security Administration.
If you wait one year to apply for benefits, you can add 5% to 8% to your checks. That would add anywhere from $100 to $160 to each check if you qualified for the $1,997 average monthly benefit.
Of course, doing this means you have to forego Social Security checks for a year. That's not always doable. You may be able to pull it off if you have a lot of personal savings, or you're still working. But if you're in a financial bind, that might not be an option. However, you may still be able to delay benefits a month or two to enjoy a smaller benefit bump.
Delaying Social Security also may not make sense if you have a short life expectancy. You may get a larger lifetime benefit by signing up early in this case.
It could still be an option, even if you're already claiming benefits
Taking advantage of the benefit increase that comes with delaying your checks is trickier once you've already signed up, but it's not impossible. If you've signed up for Social Security in the last 12 months, you may be able to withdraw your benefit application. To do this, you must pay the Social Security Administration back all the money you've received in benefits thus far.
If you're able to do this, it will treat you as if you've never applied for benefits. Your checks will continue to grow with each month you delay until you sign up again. However, you can only do this once.
If it's been more than 12 months since you applied, or you cannot afford to pay back the Social Security benefits you've already received, you can consider suspending benefits once you reach your FRA. This will halt your checks until you either request that they start again or you turn 70. During the time you're not receiving benefits, your checks will grow by two-thirds of 1% per month.
Even this could be difficult for many seniors to pull off. If you can't, you'll still have COLAs to look forward to in most years to give you a small benefit boost.
