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Here are a few key items to keep in mind:

📌 Full Retirement Age (FRA): Your FRA determines when you can claim 100 percent of your benefits. It varies based on your birth year and affects the monthly payment amount.

📌 Benefit Calculation: Social Security calculates benefits using your 35 highest-earning years. Working longer or during retirement can replace lower-earning years.

📌 Delayed Benefits: Waiting to claim benefits past your FRA (up to age 70) increases payments by 8 percent annually

📌 Spousal Benefits: Spouses can claim up to 50 percent of the higher earner’s benefit, but early claims reduce the amount

📌 Survivor Benefits: Widows, widowers, and eligible children can receive benefits based on the deceased’s earnings, with strategies to maximize payouts

📌 Ex-Spouse Benefits: Divorced individuals can claim benefits based on an ex-spouse’s record if the marriage lasted at least 10 years

📌 Taxation of Benefits: Up to 85 percent of benefits may be taxable depending on your income. Strategies like Roth IRA conversions can help reduce taxes.