It’s not a secret that millions of older Americans today collect a monthly benefit from Social Security. But what may be surprising is the number of retirees who depend on those benefits.

A good 91% of retirees today need Social Security to stay afloat, according to a 2024 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. And if you expect to be in a similar boat once you retire, it’s important to know what it takes to get more money out of it. Here are some strategies for maximizing your benefits.

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1. Work at least 35 years

Social Security uses a very specific formula to calculate benefit payments. It takes your 35 highest-paid years in the workforce and adjusts earlier income for inflation to arrive at the amount you’re eligible to receive each month.

What this means, though, is that if you don’t have 35 years of work under your belt, you’ll have a $0 factored into your benefits formula for each year you’re missing an income and therefore didn’t pay into the program. To avoid that hit to your monthly benefit, aim for 35 years of work, even if the last few are part-time.

2. Boost your income

The more you earn (up to a certain point), the more money Social Security will pay you each month in retirement. So it pays to push for higher wages not just for the near-term benefit, but the long-term benefit.

To that end, make a point to check in with recruiters in your industry from time to time to make sure your pay is competitive for what you do. And also, boost your skills as needed to set yourself up for career growth.

You should also know that income you earn from a side job counts toward Social Security as long as it’s reported and taxes are paid on it. So if you’ve been toying with the idea of a side hustle to free up room in your budget anyway, know that it could do great things for your Social Security benefits down the line.

3. Delay your claim as long as possible

Age 62 is the earliest age to sign up for Social Security. And not surprisingly, it’s when many older Americans opt to claim benefits.

But if you don’t wait until full retirement age to claim Social Security, your monthly benefits will be permanently reduced. Full retirement is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.

There’s also the option to delay your Social Security claim beyond full retirement age. Each year you hold off gives your monthly benefit an 8% boost.

Once you turn 70, those delayed retirement credits stop accumulating, though. So with a full retirement age of 67, the maximum boost you’re looking at is 24%.

But that’s not too shabby. And if you expect to be heavily reliant on Social Security to make ends meet in retirement, then it could pay to hold off on taking benefits until you turn 70.

Just know that if you’re interested in delaying your Social Security claim, you may have to plan for that ahead of time — for example, by continuously boosting your skills at work so your employer doesn’t have any reason to let you go before you’re ready to retire.

It’s not all that surprising that a large percentage of retirees today depend on Social Security. But if you want more money from the program each month, it’s important to know how to get it.

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