plan for retirement. One of the primary decisions you've got to make is at what age to start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits. Several questions you will want to think about include:

Should you begin Social Security at age 62 or 66, or even later?

At what age should your spouse start collecting Social Security?

Will you receive your spouse's benefits if he/she dies before you?

Can you collect on your spouse's earnings record if he/she earned more than you?

Are you able to collect on your ex-spouse's benefits?

In case your head wasn't spinning before, it is now! Here are some suggestions to help you get the maximum Social Security retirement income you are entitled to:

Increase Your Social Security Income:

Your Social Security retirement benefits is dependent on your top 35 years of salary hence it is advisable to get as many "high earning" years in as you possibly can. For this reason, staying with your job just one year longer at a significant compensating position might make an impact in your retirement income.

Delay Receiving Your Social Security Retirement Benefits:

Social Security penalizes you for every month you receive your Social Security before you reach your full retirement age, with the highest penalty being 25% in the event where you start receiving benefits at age 62. Although beginning your benefits earlier could be attractive, those people who are patient can boost their Social Security income by approximately 30% (including inflation increases) simply by waiting until full retirement age.

Work Part-Time While in Retirement:

While you're restricted in how much you are allowed to make when you're below full retirement age and receiving Social Security, after you attain full retirement age you'll be able to make as much as you wish without your retirement benefits being decreased. Yet another plan could be to take a part-time job when you finally retire so that you can postpone collecting Social Security benefits.

Apply for Benefits Based on Your Spouse's Benefits:

When you're married, you are able to collect Social Security spousal benefits based on your own income, or you can collect half of your spouse's benefit, whichever is higher. If you and your spouse aren't the same age, you will need to do some planning to make certain you get the maximum benefits, but this is undoubtedly a strategy to contemplate if one spouse earns a lot more than the other, as well as if one spouse has been away from the work force for quite some time.

Take advantage of Your Ex's Benefits:

The spousal benefit is true for ex-spouses too. If you were married to your ex-spouse for not less than 10 years, and you aren't presently married to somebody else, you'll be able to collect as much as 50% of your ex spouse's benefits. It's not necessary to contact your ex-spouse to apply for your benefits; in fact they may never learn unless you inform them, also it will not have an effect on their own benefits in any way.

These are just a couple of ways to help you get the maximum Social Security benefits. Receiving your Social Security retirement benefits can be an extremely complicated decision and may have an effect on the rest of your retirement, so make sure you seek advice from a specialist before you make any decisions yourself.

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