3. Aim for full retirement age
The Social Security Administration calculates monthly checks based on your full retirement age (FRA). That’s when you are eligible for 100 percent of your Social Security benefit.
Your FRA varies depending on when you were born: It’s age 66 for people born from 1943 to 1954, and increases by an additional two months each birth year until reaching age 67 for those born in 1960 and after. The longer you wait, the larger your checks and cost-of-living adjustments, which are based on your monthly checks. Waiting until age 70 is even better than collecting at FRA. But more on that later.