Everyone wants to maximize their Social Security benefit, but that can feel tricky to do if you don’t earn a lot of money. Fortunately, your income history isn’t the only factor that determines the size of your checks.
Understanding how the government calculates your take-home benefit reveals several key ways you can boost yours. But it also reveals five ways you could lose some of your checks if you’re not careful.
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The Social Security Administration looks at your 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for inflation, when it calculates your benefit. While you can claim with a shorter work history, you’ll have zero-income years included, and even one of these can notably drop your monthly benefit.
Fortunately, this is a solvable problem. If you continue to work — even if you’re also receiving benefits — the government will update your benefit amount each year based on your new work history. Your checks may gradually increase as you reduce the number of zero-income years in your calculation.
Signing up if you haven’t reached your full retirement age (FRA) — 67 for most workers today — is considered early claiming. Doing this reduces your monthly benefit by up to 30%. This is enough to drop the $2,076 average monthly check, as of February 2026, to $1,453 per month.
This is difficult to fix if you’ve already signed up. You may be able to undo your application if you can pay all the benefits you’ve received thus far back to Social Security, but this only works if it’s been less than a year since you applied. You can also ask the Social Security Administration to suspend benefits once you reach your FRA. Your checks will grow during this time, until you request that they start again or you turn 70.
Those who claim Social Security under their FRA while continuing to work can lose more money to the earnings test. This is a rule that withholds $1 from your checks for every $2 you earn over $24,480 in 2026 if you won’t reach your FRA all year. If you’ll reach your FRA this year, you’ll lose $1 for every $3 you earn over $65,160, assuming you earn this much before your birth month.
This money isn’t lost forever, though. When you reach your FRA, the government will recalculate your benefits and give you back what it withheld before in the form of a permanent benefit boost.
Your earnings record is where the Social Security Administration tracks how much money you’ve paid Social Security taxes on throughout your career. You can view yours in your my Social Security account. Before you apply for benefits, look yours over to make sure it’s accurate. Errors here, though rare, could reduce your checks.
If you find a mistake, contact the Social Security Administration. Provide details of your records from that year to show how much money you actually paid Social Security taxes on. It will investigate and, if appropriate, update your record.
If you fail to keep up with other financial obligations, like child support, alimony, or restitution, the government may withhold some of your Social Security benefits until you’ve paid these off. It can also take some of your checks to cover unpaid federal taxes.
Reach out to the Social Security Administration if you have any questions about your benefits or why you’re getting less money than you expected. Act promptly to get to the bottom of the situation as soon as possible.
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Is Your Social Security Benefit Smaller Than It Should Be? 5 Mistakes That Could Cost You in 2026. was originally published by The Motley Fool
