Financial experts and planners often warn that filing for Social Security benefits at sixty-two, the earliest age to do so, is potentially one of the biggest financial mistakes a person can make in their life.

By doing a little digging and actually going through the numbers, it’s relatively easy to see why this warning should be heeded.

For those who have no real medical issues and already have a sizable nest egg, “it pays to wait,” AARP says.

It continued by claiming that “your monthly payment will be 76 percent higher if you wait to start benefits at seventy rather than sixty-two, the earliest possible age.”

The Social Security Administration (SSA) also acknowledges on its website that “if a worker begins receiving benefits before his/her normal (or full) retirement age, the worker will receive a reduced benefit.”

And if an individual decides to collect at sixty-two, it “may result in a (benefit) reduction of as much as 30 percent,” it concludes.

Boosting Social Security Benefits

Given these facts, it seems to be a smart move to quickly find ways that will boost those Social Security checks, which, on average, don’t even amount to $20,000 a year.

“The average retiree collects around $1,500 in Social Security benefits per month,” personal finance expert Georgina Tzanetos wrote last week at GOBankingRates.com.

“This can range up or down depending on lifetime earnings, and importantly, when you decide to start taking benefits. Depending on your benefit amount and at which age you decide to begin distributions, you could almost double the benefits you receive each month. This is because if you wait, you can use delayed retirement credits,” she continued.

Tzanetos then goes on to mention that “for each month from your full retirement age until age seventy that you postpone filing for benefits, the Social Security Administration increases your eventual benefit by about two-thirds of 1 percent—a total of 8 percent for each year you wait. This means retirees who reach full retirement age at sixty-seven but delay claiming until seventy will get an extra 24 percent tacked on to their monthly benefit.”

The Numbers Speak for Themselves

By entering some of these figures in a simple math equation, people can easily see a sizeable bump to their Social Security checks.

“Assuming an average benefit amount of $1,500, this means your check could now be reduced to $1,050 if you retire at sixty-two. Should you wait until seventy, that check will be around $1,888, assuming average benefit and 8 percent year-over-year accrual beginning at full retirement age,” Tzanetos wrote.

“That’s a whopping $800 difference—and all you have to do is wait,” she concluded.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.