Social Security adjusts for 2017

Social Security recipients will get a small bump in their monthly checks next year.

But if you still have a few years left until you start collecting, we’ve got some strategies for you to maximize the monthly check you will eventually collect.

After a couple years of almost no inflation, the Social Security Administration has announced a .3 percent increase in monthly payments going forward, according to a news release.

It’s the smallest hike — in years when there is a hike at all — since the mid-1970s. Recipients have a slight firming up of the nation’s inflation to thank for the cost-of-living adjustment in 2017. (Hikes generally come in relation to inflation; in years when there is no inflation, there is no increase.)

The average monthly Social Security check in December 2015 was $1,342, according to the SSA. So the .3 percent increase next year will be roughly an extra $5 in your check each month. That’s not a lot of money. But for the 47 percent of single elderly people who depend on that monthly check for 90 percent or more of their income, at least it’s something.

If you have some time left before you start claiming your Social Security benefits, consider the following:

Play the waiting game: But every year you wait after age 62, you have an imputed return of 8 percent per year on your lifetime benefit. So if you wait from 62 to 70, the amount that Social Security pays climbs dramatically.

Use an online calculator: AARP’s interactive calculator allows you to pop in your specifics and it will give you a decision tree to help you figure out the optimal time to take Social Security.

Boost your earnings today: What you get from Social Security has everything to do with your 35 highest earning years.