Social Security plays a big role in your retirement planning -- but you shouldn't bank on it. Here's what to do instead.

As a final thought, 67 years of age is the full retirement for all American workers born in 1960 or later, but you can wait until as late as age 70 to start collecting your benefit. For each year you wait beyond full retirement age, your Social Security benefit will be permanently increased by 8%, so you could get as much as 24% more for waiting.

If you’re like most seniors, you’ll rely on  Social Security to provide a good portion of your income once you retire. But, it can be hard to figure out exactly what role Social Security will play in supporting you if you don’t know how much money you’ll get from the benefits program.