16 Things You Can Do to Boost Your Social Security Checks

Social Security is a primary source of income for millions of retirees across America. While you can't comfortably live on Social Security alone -- the average monthly benefit is just $1,503 in 2020 -- your checks will still be an important source of funds in your later years.

That's why it makes sense to try to maximize the size of those checks. Fortunately, there are lots of steps you can take throughout your life to try to get more money from the Social Security Administration.

In fact, here are 16 suggestions to boost your benefits. Not all of these will work for everyone, but you should be able to find at least a few things you can do.

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Your Social Security benefit amount is based on what you earn during your working life.

In fact, you get benefits equal to 90% of your average monthly wages up to a certain income limit; 32% of average monthly wages up to a second limit; and 15% of earnings for all additional income above the second limit.

If you choose a higher-paying field, you'll have higher average wages -- and this translates to bigger benefits as a senior.

There's a caveat, though. Each year, there's an annual wage base limit. Income you earn above that limit isn't taxed and doesn't increase your benefits. Of course, earning too much income for it all to count towards Social Security is a nice problem to have.

If you're stuck at a low-paying gig, you're limiting the size of your Social Security benefits.

And since your check amount is based on inflation-adjusted average wages over your career, the longer you stay at your dead-end job, the more of an impact it will have on your Social Security income.

If you don't have the chance to advance or you're being paid below market rate, start looking for better work ASAP. You can improve your life now and in your senior years if you're able to boost your salary.

Far too many people don't negotiate their salary when they get hired and don't push for the biggest possible raise during their annual performance review.

When you're aggressive about asking for salary increases, this can make a huge impact on the average wage used to determine the size of your Social Security checks.

ALSO READ: 4 Salary Negotiation Tips/Tricks

Although increasing income from your primary job is the easiest way to boost your Social Security benefits, you can also take on a side gig to earn extra money.

If you work as an independent contractor in your side gig, you won't have Social Security taxes withheld from your paychecks -- but you'll still need to pay these taxes on your own.

The wages from your side gig count towards the income used to determine your average wage for Social Security, as long as you aren't above the wage base limit. So the more you earn and the longer you have extra income coming in, the higher your benefits will be.

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It should be pretty clear by now that your average income determines the size of your checks. But, the Social Security Administration doesn't just look at income for every single year you worked. Instead, the SSA considers inflation-adjusted wages over the 35 years your earnings were the highest.

This calculation is the same for everyone -- which means workers who don't put in 35 years on-the-job have a problem. They'll have years of $0 wages factored in, dragging down their average wage.

You don't want to have your benefits reduced because a year of $0 wages is included in your average, so aim to put in your full 35 years. If you don't, the more you fall short the greater the impact on your Social Security checks.

If you're like most people, you'll earn more over the course of your career. In fact, as you get close to retirement, your wages could be much higher than the income you earned early in your career -- even after adjusting for inflation.

If you've already worked for 35 years but you're earning a lot more now, think about putting in a few extra years on the job. Each extra year can replace one of your early low-earning years when the SSA calculates your average wage.

To calculate the average wage used to set your benefits, the Social Security Administration needs to know what you earned over your career.

Each year, your earnings are reported to the SSA and your earnings record is compiled. You need to make sure your earnings were reported correctly under your Social Security number so you get credit for them.

Checking your earnings record once a year is a good idea because if something went wrong, you can correct the problem in a timely manner while you still have documentation to show how much you actually made.

Fortunately, it's easy to check your record by signing into your Social Security account online.

ALSO READ: Have You Checked Your Social Security Earnings Record Lately?

The Social Security benefits formula that takes your average wages into account is used to determine your standard benefit or primary insurance amount.

But you'll only receive this amount if you start getting benefits at a specific age called your full retirement age (FRA). FRA is between the ages of 66 and 67, with the specific age set based on the year you were born.

If you claim benefits a month or more prior to FRA, you'll face a reduction due to early filing penalties. These penalties reduce your standard benefit by a small percentage each month -- but can add up to a 6.7% annual reduction for each of the first three years you claim ahead of FRA and an additional 5% annual reduction if you claim more than three years before it.

Benefits can be claimed as early as age 62. But if your FRA is 67 and you claim that early, you'll see a 30% reduction in your standard benefit. If you want larger checks, you don't want to take this hit.

While you'll see your benefit checks reduced if you start them before FRA, you can increase your monthly income by waiting until after it.

For each month after FRA that you delay filing for benefits up until age 70, your checks will go up a small amount. These small monthly increases add up to an 8% per year bump in benefits.

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Many people who develop health issues in their 60s opt to claim Social Security benefits, even if they haven't yet hit FRA. This means taking a hit to benefits.

Instead, if you're unable to work due to a health problem, see if you can qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance. This would allow you to avoid an early filing penalty.

If you qualify for SSDI at any time in your working life, a disability freeze would also go into effect. This means years when you have a lower income due to your disability wouldn't count when the SSA calculates the average monthly income that determines the amount of your benefits.

ALSO READ: Social Security Disability: Everything You Need to Know

If your income during retirement exceeds a certain threshold, you could see up to 85% of your Social Security benefits subject to federal tax. But not all income is counted.

If you have income from a Roth IRA or 401(k), it's not counted when determining if your Social Security benefits are taxable. That means you could have as much supplementary income as you want and still not be taxed on your benefits.

Avoiding federal income tax makes your annual Social Security checks much larger.

Currently, just 13 states tax Social Security benefits -- and by 2022 only 12 states will impose these taxes.

If you happen to live in one of them, a move would mean a raise to your Social Security income since you wouldn't lose a part of your money to your state any more.

Working while you get Social Security benefits won't affect the size of your checks after you've reached full retirement age. But if you work before then, benefits could be reduced once your income hits a certain threshold.

You can actually use this to your advantage if you claimed benefits early and regret it. That's because your benefits are recalculated when you hit your full retirement age and you get credit for the benefits you didn't receive due to working. This will lead to a higher benefit later.

Of course, if you don't regret claiming early and you want the largest possible Social Security checks, you'll need to make sure you don't earn above the limit.

When you're married, you can claim benefits on your spouse's work history instead of your own. If you earned much less than your spouse, this could lead to a higher benefit .

However, the size of your spousal benefits check depends on when benefits are claimed. And spousal benefits aren't available until your spouse has started getting checks.

You may decide the higher-earning spouse should claim ASAP to make spousal benefits available, even though that means a reduction in benefits. Or you may opt to have the lower earner claim first and have the higher earner wait to maximize monthly income.

There are lots of different approaches, so make sure you work with your spouse to decide what's best. You may even decide to talk to a financial advisor to get help picking a claiming strategy that maximizes your income.

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Spousal and survivor benefits are available even if your marriage ended -- as long as you were married for at least 10 years.

If you're considering divorce but are close to this 10-year threshold, you may want to wait a short time so you can open up the door to these benefits.

If you claim spousal or survivor benefits after a divorce, this won't affect your ex's benefits at all.

Survivor benefits are available if your current spouse passes away or if you were married for at least 10 years and your former spouse died.

If a higher earning spouse claims benefits before FRA, this will reduce the amount of survivor benefits. If you want to maximize them, the higher earner should wait to start getting checks from the Social Security Administration.

Survivor benefits can't be applied for online, so if you could be eligible for them, make sure you contact Social Security to claim them.

ALSO READ: Social Security Survivor Benefits -- What You Need to Know

As you can see, there are lots of ways to increase the amount of your Social Security check. Most of them center around increasing your income and choosing the right time to start receiving benefits.

While this may seem complicated, it's worth the effort, as larger checks could mean a higher quality of life in your later years.

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