Social Security benefits make up about 30% of elderly Americans’ incomes, according to the Social Security Administration.

For some beneficiaries, it can be 90% or more.

Yet many people do not think of those earned benefits, and the monthly checks that come with them, as a personal financial asset, according to Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff, author of a new book titled “Money Magic: An Economist’s Secrets to More Money, Less Risk and a Better Life.”

The money you pay into the system is generally fixed, amounting to 12.4% of your earnings from work that are subject to Social Security taxes. Those taxes are split 50-50 between you and your employer, so you each pay 6.2%, up to a certain cap. In 2022, that tax is applied on up to $147,000 in wages.

Yet the money you may eventually get back from the program is not set in stone.

If you claim at the earliest age you’re eligible — 62 — you will receive permanently reduced benefits. If you instead claim at your full retirement age — generally age 66 to 67, depending on the year you were born — you will receive 100% of that benefit based on your work record. For each year you wait until age 70, you may increase your benefits by 8% through what is known as delayed retirement credits.

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