1. Work for 35 Years

You qualify for Social Security checks after working for at least 10 years, and you can start claiming those retirement benefits as soon as age 62 or as late as age 70. The Social Security Administration calculates the average of your 35 highest-earning years, and the result is basically your benefit amount.

This means one thing: the more money you earn, the higher your retirement benefit will be. However, there are limits. For 2023, the maximum benefits are $2,572 for people retiring at age 62, $3,506 for seniors retiring at the full retirement age of 66, and $4,555 for those who wait until age 70 to retire.