Americans greatly depend on just two major sources with regards to retirement income namely the Social Security and the Employer Pensions. However, most of these people won’t be able to depend on these alone to render them income since Social Security benefits are becoming less and the number of employers who provide pensions are becoming few.

Hence for the majority, personal savings have turned out to be an essential part of retirement income.

Social Security
To pass for the series of its benefits, you must be able to render contributions to the system for a total of ten years. The basis of your benefits would also be your earnings before you reach the age of retirement.

These benefits have two sides. The good side is that it is being regulated to increase with inflation. The negative side is that the savings used in determining the support is limited or restricted. Even if it is going to increase because of inflation, the cap will make the higher income-earning individuals get a lower proportion of the earnings prior to retirement than those people who are earning less.

In order to receive full benefits from your social security, you need to be on the right retirement age. The retirement age before is 65. However, actual required full retirement age is increasing for those born in 1938 or later. It reaches the ripe age of 67 for individuals born after 1959.

You can have a closer look at your benefits by visiting the site of the Social Security Administration (SSA) at www.ssa.gov. You can also take a look at the SSA’s annual statement which is sent to you within three months after your birthday. You can always request for a statement online.

If you opt to receive your social security benefit early, you will receive less compared to the amount you can get when you wait for the full retirement age. For example, you want to receive the benefit at age 62 instead of your full retirement age of 67, then you will just receive 75% of the amount you could have receive if you just waited for 67. Each month you wait after the age of 62, your monthly benefit increases. Meaning, at age 63, you will receive 80% instead of 75%.

If you still want to increase the benefits that you will get, you can try to wait for a year or so once you have reached your full retirement age. As an example, if your full retirement age is at 66, you may receive 132% benefits monthly if you will wait for it until you are 70.

Better take note that even if you will receive less payment monthly when you decide to take your benefit early, over your lifetime, it would have amounted more. Meantime, you might get more monthly benefit if you take it late in age, but over your lifetime, you will really receive less. The choose is really up to you and will depend greatly on how much longer you will live. If you want to know more about varying benefits at different age levels, visit the SSA website.

Spouses get benefits even if he or she never had earnings under the Social Security Administration. They will be entitled under the record of the registered spouse. Children of the registered individual will also receive some benefits but it will all depend on their ages.

For your spouse, he or she will get 50% of your benefits once you have reached your retirement age. You will also lessen your spouse’s benefit if you will get your benefits earlier.

Remember that the spouse may be eligible for his or her benefit. With this, he or she will be given the higher among the two amounts.