Each year you wait to claim Social Security between 62 and 70 raises your monthly check for life. For anyone born in 1960 or later, the benefit at 70 is about 77% larger than at 62. Compared with claiming at 62, waiting to 70 pays more in total if you live past about 80. But the right age depends on three things the break-even ignores: your health and family history, your spouse’s benefit, and what you’d live on while you wait.
The decision
You can start your retirement benefit any month from 62 to 70. Full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later; claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full amount and waiting to 70 pays 124%. The retirement advisor guide charts those percentages. This page is about how to choose between them.
What the break-even shows, and what it hides
Take someone whose full benefit at 67 is $2,000 a month. Claiming at 62 pays $1,400; claiming at 70 pays $2,480.
A $2,000 full benefit claimed at 62, 67 or 70, in today's dollars, before tax
Source: Wellspent calculation from SSA claiming percentages
Data
| Age | Claim at 62 | Claim at 67 | Claim at 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 66 | $67,200 | $0 | $0 |
| 70 | $134,400 | $72,000 | $0 |
| 74 | $201,600 | $168,000 | $119,040 |
| 78 | $268,800 | $264,000 | $238,080 |
| 82 | $336,000 | $360,000 | $357,120 |
| 86 | $403,200 | $456,000 | $476,160 |
| 90 | $470,400 | $552,000 | $595,200 |
By 90, claiming at 70 has paid about $125,000 more than claiming at 62. The calculation leaves out cost-of-living raises, which apply to every claiming age, and taxes and investment returns, which differ for each person.
What the chart can’t show is that Social Security is insurance. It’s one of the few incomes that rises with inflation (by 2.8% for 2026) and lasts as long as you do. Waiting buys a bigger inflation-protected check for the years when savings are most likely to run low. If you die at 75, claiming early would have paid more, but you won’t need the money then. If you live to 95, the larger check is worth a great deal.
The rules that change the answer
Married couples: two decisions, linked
- The spouse’s benefit can be up to 50% of the other spouse’s full benefit, reduced if taken before the spouse’s own full retirement age. It doesn’t grow past full retirement age, so a spouse claiming only on the other’s record gains nothing by waiting past 67.
- You can’t choose which benefit to take. Applying for your own retirement benefit counts as applying for a spouse’s benefit too, and the reverse, so you get the larger combination.
- The survivor keeps the bigger check. A widow or widower receives up to 100% of the deceased spouse’s benefit, including any increase from waiting. When the higher earner delays to 70, they’re buying a larger income for whichever spouse lives longer. For the survivor rules in full, see the guide for widows and widowers.
Working while you claim
In 2026, if you claim before full retirement age and keep working, Social Security withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 you earn above $24,480. In the calendar year you reach full retirement age, the limit is $65,160 and the withholding is $1 for every $3, counting only earnings before the month you reach it. After that there’s no limit. Withheld benefits aren’t lost: your benefit is recalculated at full retirement age to credit those months. But if you’re still earning a salary, claiming early mostly means taking a smaller check later.
Taxes on benefits
Up to 85% of your benefit can be taxable once half your benefits plus your other income, including tax-exempt interest, passes $44,000 for a married couple or $34,000 for a single filer. Those thresholds aren’t adjusted for inflation. That’s why the claiming age and the withdrawal plan should be decided together: living on IRA withdrawals in your 60s while you wait can lower lifetime taxes and open room for Roth conversions.
Medicare is a separate clock
Medicare starts at 65 whatever you do about Social Security. Your initial enrollment period is the seven months around your 65th birthday month. If you haven’t claimed by then, you sign up yourself, and premiums are billed to you rather than taken from your check.
Two ways to change your mind
Within 12 months of becoming entitled, you can withdraw your application, once, by repaying the benefits paid on it. After full retirement age you can also suspend your benefit and earn delayed credits until 70.
Common mistakes
- Claiming at 62 by default, because it’s the first date offered or because you’ve stopped working. Retiring and claiming are separate decisions.
- Deciding as two individuals when the couple’s survivor benefit is what’s at stake.
- Claiming early while still earning a salary above the earnings limit.
- Using an old estimate. If you had a pension from work not covered by Social Security, the Social Security Fairness Act repealed the rules that used to cut those benefits; see the guide for teachers and federal employees.
- Not checking your earnings record. Your benefit is based on your 35 highest-earning years. Errors are easier to fix while employers’ records still exist.
Questions to ask an advisor
| Ask | A good answer includes |
|---|---|
| Which age would you choose for each of us, and why? | A comparison of claiming pairs for both spouses |
| What do we live on until then? | A year-by-year draw from named accounts |
| How does this change our taxes over the next 15 years? | Taxable share of benefits, bracket, Medicare premium lines |
| What happens to the survivor’s income? | The monthly figure for each spouse if the other dies first |
| How are you paid, in dollars a year? | One figure, no commission on annuities or insurance |
When an advisor is worth it, and what it costs
Your own record and estimates are free at ssa.gov, and Social Security staff will tell you what each age pays. They won’t tell you which to choose. A planner is worth it when you’re married with different earnings records, divorced after a marriage of 10 years or more, widowed, or have a pension or large pre-tax savings that make the tax side matter.
The claiming decision is a one-time question, so a one-time plan at a median $2,000 (middle half $845 to $3,600) or a few hours of hourly advice at a median $300 usually covers it. If you also want the withdrawal plan run each year, ongoing planning has a median of $4,500 a year. Ask for the analysis in writing, with the monthly figure at each age for each spouse.
How to find one
Advisors who list retirement planning cover claiming as part of the income plan. Browse retirement planning specialists and advisors for pre-retirees, or everyone in the public graph who serves pre-retirees. Ask two of them to show you the claiming comparison for your household before you sign.