RetireWise

Social Security calculator: best age to claim

See your monthly check at every age from 62 to 70, how much each choice pays over your lifetime, and when waiting catches up.

$/mo
From your SSA statement

Your full retirement age: 67

Monthly benefit if you claim at 67

$2,400

100% of your full benefit, $28,800 a year in today's dollars.

Lifetime to 88
$604,800
Most over lifetime
Claim at 70
Beats claiming at 62 from
age 78 and 8 mo
$0$275k$550k$825k$1.10M65707580859095Live to 88
Claim at 67Claim at 62Claim at 70Age →

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An AI reads the numbers above and explains what they mean for you, in plain English. It only runs when you press the button.

0/400

Your benefit at every claiming age

Claim at% of fullMonthlyYearlyTotal to 88
6270%$1,680$20,160$524,160
6375%$1,800$21,600$540,000
6480%$1,920$23,040$552,960
6586.7%$2,080$24,960$574,080
6693.3%$2,240$26,880$591,360
67100%$2,400$28,800$604,800
68108%$2,592$31,104$622,080
69116%$2,784$33,408$634,752
70124%$2,976$35,712$642,816

Today's dollars. Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment raises every claiming age equally, so it doesn't change the ranking.

How claiming age changes your check

Social Security pays your full benefit (the primary insurance amount) at your full retirement age. Claim early and it is permanently reduced: by 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months early, and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond that. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early and pays 70%. Wait past full retirement age and you earn delayed retirement credits of 2/3 of 1% per month, so 70 pays 124%. Nothing is gained by waiting past 70.

What else should sway the decision

  • Health and family history. The longer you expect to live, the more waiting pays.
  • Marriage. A surviving spouse keeps the larger of the two benefits, so the higher earner waiting protects the survivor.
  • Other savings. Spending savings in your 60s to delay can buy a bigger, inflation-protected income for life.
  • Still working? Before full retirement age the earnings test can withhold benefits.

For a head-to-head between two specific ages, use the Social Security break-even calculator.

Questions people ask

What is the best age to claim Social Security?

There is no single best age. Claiming at 62 gives the most checks but the smallest ones (about 70% of your full benefit if your full retirement age is 67). Waiting to 70 gives 124%. If you expect to live past your early 80s, or you are the higher earner in a couple, waiting usually pays more over a lifetime.

What is my full retirement age?

It is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. For people born 1955 to 1959 it rises two months per birth year from 66 and 2 months. The calculator works it out from your birth year.

Where do I find my benefit at full retirement age?

Log in to my Social Security at ssa.gov/myaccount. Your statement shows your estimated monthly benefit at full retirement age (your primary insurance amount, or PIA) and at other ages.

How much does waiting increase my benefit?

Each month before full retirement age cuts the benefit by 5/9 of 1% for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% after that. Each month after it adds 2/3 of 1% (8% a year) in delayed retirement credits, up to age 70.

Does working while claiming reduce my check?

Before full retirement age, the earnings test withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above an annual limit ($24,480 in 2026). Withheld benefits are not lost: your benefit is recalculated upward at full retirement age.