If you claimed Social Security benefits early, you made a decision that shrunk your monthly payment. You have a full retirement age (FRA) when you can get your standard benefit, and a claim before that time reduces payments for every month you are ahead of your FRA. The benefits reduction can add up to 6.7% per year for the first three years and another 5% reduction in the years before that.
If you regret shrinking your benefits check, you could potentially increase your monthly payments later. In fact, there are four ways you can do that -- although not everyone will be able to do all of them.
Here's how you can increase the amount of Social Security income you're collecting, even if you've claimed sooner than you now realize you should have.
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1. Rescind your claim
The first option is to rescind your claim.
If you filed for Social Security less than 12 months ago, you can request a do-over -- provided you can pay back all of the benefits you have received to date. You'll also have to pay back spousal benefits if your spouse collected them on your work record.
If you're able to repay the money the Social Security Administration paid you and you act quickly enough, rescinding your early claim effectively erases it, so your future benefit amount isn't impacted at all once you eventually restart your checks.
2. Work so you can forfeit some benefits
If you have already reached your full retirement age, this technique won't work for you since working after FRA is allowed with no limits. If you're under FRA, though, working and earning a generous income can help you increase your future Social Security checks by erasing some early filing penalties.
You're allowed to earn only up to a set amount of money from work while collecting Social Security if you're under FRA. For 2026, the limits will be $24,480 if you won't hit FRA at all during the year or $65,150 if you'll hit FRA at some point during the year. If you're under FRA, you lose $1 for every $2 earned above the $24,480 limit, and if you'll reach FRA during the year, you lose $1 for every $3 above the $65,150 (the limits adjust over time to account for inflation).
If you earn enough, you can have your entire Social Security check disappear, or you can end up with a much smaller amount of benefits coming in. Once you reach FRA, the Social Security Administration adjusts your monthly benefit based on the income you didn't collect due to working. So, the more you work and forfeit at the time, the higher you can push your future benefit.
3. Work and earn a higher income
There's also another way to increase your Social Security benefit after an early claim, and this technique will work no matter how old you are. The key is to work and earn more than you did at earlier points in your career.
See, the Social Security benefits formula gives you benefits equal to average wages in your 35 highest-earning years. And tracking earnings doesn't stop when you claim benefits. If you can work and earn more money now than you did (on an inflation-adjusted basis) at any point during the 35 years included in your benefits formula, you can raise your average wage and thus increase your overall Social Security check.
Working and earning a good income can also help you invest more money in your retirement plans. If you can grow your 401(k) and Social Security benefit at the same time, that's a huge boost to your retirement security.
4. Switch to spousal or survivor benefits
Finally, your last option is to switch to survivor or spousal benefits if you're eligible.
These benefits may be more than the amount you're collecting if your spouse was the higher earner. You're generally eligible for these benefits if you're currently married or if you divorced after 10 or more years. However, if you are married, your spouse must have claimed their retirement benefits first before you can get spousal benefits. And, obviously, survivor benefits are an option only if your spouse has passed.
These benefits aren't always worth more than your own retirement check. But, if your spouse earned a good amount more than you did, there's a good chance they will be worth more and can give your income a good boost if you need it.
It's worth exploring all of these options as Social Security is an important income source, and an early claim can shrink it substantially. If you can increase the amount again, you can make your retirement more secure so you'll have more peace of mind.
