Claim Social Security at 62, 67 or 70? The Break-Even Math

If you were born in 1960 or later, claiming Social Security at 62 pays you 30% less than your full benefit for the rest of your life, and waiting until 70 pays you 24% more (SSA’s table of benefits by age). Counted in total dollars, a start at 70 overtakes a start at 62 at about age 80, and a start at your full retirement age of 67 overtakes 62 a little before 79. So the question “when should I take Social Security?” comes down to how long you expect to live, who depends on your check, and whether you are still working.

Type the monthly benefit your Social Security Statement shows for full retirement age, and your date of birth. The calculator shows your check at each age from 62 to 70, what each start pays in total by the age you choose, and when each later start catches up. These are estimates from SSA’s published rules; SSA pays from your own earnings record, which you can see at my Social Security.

How much do you lose by claiming at 62?

You lose up to 30% of your full benefit, every month, for life, if your full retirement age is 67. SSA cuts the benefit by 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months you start before full retirement age, and by 5/12 of 1% for each month before that (20 CFR 404.410). Starting 36 months early costs 20%. Starting 60 months early, the earliest anyone born in 1960 or later can start, costs 30%: 20% for the first 36 months and 10% for the other 24.

Most people cannot start in the very month they turn 62. You reach an age on the day before your birthday (20 CFR 404.102), and before full retirement age benefits start only with a month you are 62 for the whole month (20 CFR 404.311). Born on the 2nd, you reach 62 on the 1st, so you can start in your birthday month, 60 months before a full retirement age of 67, at 70%. Born on the 1st, you can start in your birthday month too, but you also reach full retirement age a month earlier, so you are 59 months early, like everyone else. Born on any other day, you start the month after your birthday, at 62 and 1 month: 59 months early, 70.42%. See full retirement age by year of birth.

Take someone born on June 15, 1966, who has earned $60,000 a year in today’s money since age 22. The earliest start is July 2028, when the check would be about $1,673 a month: 70.4% of the $2,377 that waiting until 67 would pay.

The cut does not go away at full retirement age. Each later cost-of-living increase goes onto your full benefit amount, and the same percentage cut is taken from it again (20 CFR 404.413), so the gap stays the same in percentage terms. The one exception is months SSA holds back because you earned over the earnings limit: those are given back through a higher benefit at full retirement age.

How much more do you get by waiting until 70?

A delayed retirement credit is the increase you earn for each month you wait past full retirement age to start your benefits, up to 70. You get 8% more for each year you wait. Each month of waiting earns a delayed retirement credit of 2/3 of 1% for anyone born after January 1, 1943 (20 CFR 404.313). With a full retirement age of 67, the 36 months to 70 add 24%, so the check at 70 is 124% of your full benefit. With a full retirement age of 66 it is 48 months and 132%.

The credits stop at 70, so waiting longer adds nothing: apply in time for benefits to start at 70. If you apply after full retirement age, you can ask for benefits for up to 6 months before the month you apply (20 CFR 404.621), but a month paid that way no longer earns a credit.

For the person born in 1966, waiting until June 2036 raises the check to about $2,947 a month, 124% of the full amount. That is about three-quarters more than the check at 62, for as long as they live.

What would one person get at 62, 67 and 70?

Here is the same person, born June 15, 1966, with $60,000 a year of pay, at the three ages people ask about most. The totals count every monthly check up to the 85th birthday.

• At 62: from July 2028, $1,673 a month, 70.4% of the full benefit. Paid by 85: $460,075.
• At 67, full retirement age: from June 2033, $2,377 a month, the full benefit. Paid by 85: $513,432.
• At 70: from June 2036, $2,947 a month, 124% of the full benefit. Paid by 85: $530,460.

All the amounts are in today’s dollars, before income tax and Medicare premiums. Future cost-of-living increases would raise all three by the same percentage, so they do not change which start comes out ahead. For your own pay and date of birth, use the estimator on the home page.

Living to 85, this person collects the most by starting at 70 and the least by starting at 62. Dying at 75, it is the other way round: by then the 62 start has paid for more than 12 years, and the 70 start for only 5.

At what age does waiting pay off?

Waiting pays off at about 79 for a start at 67 instead of 62, a little past 80 for 70 instead of 62, and about 82 and a half for 70 instead of 67. A break-even age is the age at which the later start has paid as much in total as the earlier one. Here is the arithmetic for a full retirement age of 67 and a start at exactly 62, worked from SSA’s percentages. It is our arithmetic, not an SSA figure.

• 62 against 67. Starting at 62 pays 60 checks of 70% before the other start begins: 42 full checks. From 67, the later start gets 30% of a full check more each month, and 42 ÷ 0.3 = 140 months, or 11 years and 8 months. Break-even: 78 and 8 months.
• 67 against 70. Starting at 67 pays 36 full checks before 70. From 70, the later start gets 24% more each month: 36 ÷ 0.24 = 150 months, or 12 and a half years. Break-even: 82 and 6 months.
• 62 against 70. Starting at 62 pays 96 checks of 70%, worth 67.2 full checks, before 70. From 70, the later start gets 54% more each month: 67.2 ÷ 0.54 = about 124 months. Break-even: about 80 and 4 months.

Someone born on the 15th, like the example, starts a month later at 62 with a slightly smaller cut, which moves these ages by a month or so. The calculator at the top works it out for your date of birth and draws the totals as a chart.

Three starting ages, one race

Age on the clock85and 0 months

1. 62Start at 62$1,408 a month from July 2028$387,200
2. 67Start at full retirement age (67)$2,000 a month from June 2033$432,000
   Passes 62 at 78 and 9 months
3. 70Start at 70$2,480 a month from June 2036$446,400
   Passes 62 at 80 and 5 monthsPasses full retirement age at 82 and 6 months

Run the raceMove the clock: age from 62 to 856285

1. 78 and 9 months Full retirement age catches up with 62
2. 80 and 5 months 70 catches up with 62
3. 82 and 6 months 70 catches up with full retirement age

At 85, of these three starts, the one at 70 has paid the most: $446,400.

A break-even age is not a forecast; it only shows where the lines cross. Live past it and the later start paid more in total; die before it and the earlier start did. It also counts a dollar today the same as a dollar in ten years. If you would invest the early checks, or would spend savings that earn interest while you wait, the early start is worth a little more and the break-even moves later.

1. 6270% of the full amount
2. 6375%
3. 6480%
4. 6586.67%
5. 6693.33%
6. 67100%: full retirement age
7. 68108%
8. 69116%
9. 70124%: no more credits after 70

What does the break-even math leave out?

It leaves out the four things that most often decide the question: how long you are likely to live, your spouse, your work and your taxes.

• Your health and your family’s. You know more than an average does: your own health, and how long your parents lived. Good reason to expect a short life favors starting early; a long one favors waiting.
• A spouse who could outlive you. If you are married and the higher earner, your claiming age also sets what your widow or widower gets after you die. A survivor who starts at their own full retirement age can get the full benefit you were due plus any delayed credits you earned (20 CFR 404.313(e)). If you claimed early, that is cut to what you would be getting, or to 82.5% of your full benefit if that is more (20 CFR 404.338). For a couple, the life that matters is the longer of the two. See survivor benefits.
• A spouse’s benefit while you are both alive. It is based on your full benefit, not on when you start, and your delayed credits do not raise it (20 CFR 404.313(e)(2)). See spousal benefits.
• Work. Start before full retirement age while you still earn more than $25,560 in 2027, and SSA holds back $1 of benefits for every $2 above it (SSA’s earnings test). Those months are credited back later, but the early checks you were counting on may not arrive.
• Taxes. Up to 85% of your benefits can be taxable income, depending on your other income (IRS Publication 915). Benefits that start while you still have a paycheck are more likely to be taxed. Our page on taxes on Social Security works it out.

Can you change your mind after you claim?

Yes, in two ways: you can withdraw your application within 12 months, or you can suspend your benefits once you reach full retirement age.

Withdrawing. SSA’s rules let you withdraw an application for retirement benefits if you ask in writing within 12 months of your first month of benefits, and only if you have never withdrawn one before (20 CFR 404.640). You must pay back everything paid on that application, and anyone else paid on your record, such as a spouse, must agree in writing. Once SSA approves it, the application counts as never filed, so you can apply again later for a larger benefit.

Suspending. From full retirement age to 70 you can ask SSA to stop your payments, starting with the month after you ask, and earn delayed credits for those months (Social Security Act section 202(z); credits: 20 CFR 404.313). There is a catch, added by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015: while your benefits are suspended, nobody can be paid on your record, so a spouse’s benefit on your record stops too, and you cannot be paid on anyone else’s record (Public Law 114-74, section 831). Payments start again when you ask, or at 70.

So when should you take Social Security?

Take it when the trade-off fits your life: there is no single best age for everyone. These are general rules, not advice for your situation, but they point the same way for most people in a few common cases:

• If you need the income now, or your health makes a long retirement unlikely, starting early gets you money while you can use it.
• If you are married and the higher earner, waiting raises the check your spouse may live on for years after you.
• If you are still working and earn well above the earnings limit, starting before full retirement age gains little, because most of the checks would be held back.
• If you are healthy and can live on other money for a while, each year you wait past full retirement age adds 8% to every check for life.

Figures checked October 29, 2026.

Questions people ask

What is the best age to claim Social Security?

There is no best age for everyone. Counted in total dollars, starting at 70 pays the most if you live past about 82½, starting at 62 pays the most if you die before about 79, and 67 comes out ahead in between; health, a spouse, work and taxes usually decide the rest.

How much less will I get if I retire at 62 instead of 67?

If your full retirement age is 67, about 30% less every month for life: 70% of your full benefit if you start in the month you turn 62, a little more if you start at 62 and 1 month (20 CFR 404.410).

Can I take Social Security at 62 and still work?

Yes. In 2027 SSA holds back $1 of benefits for every $2 you earn above $25,560, until the year you reach full retirement age. The months held back are given back through a higher benefit at full retirement age; see the earnings limit.

Do you get more Social Security if you work until 70?

Waiting, not working, is what earns delayed credits: 8% a year from full retirement age until 70, and nothing after. Working can also raise your benefit if a new year of pay replaces a lower one among the 35 years SSA averages (20 CFR 404.211).

Is it better to take Social Security at 67 or 70?

Waiting from 67 to 70 raises each check by 24% if your full retirement age is 67. It pays more in total if you live past about 82 and a half, and it raises what your widow or widower could get.

Can I stop Social Security after I start?

Yes. You can withdraw your application within 12 months, once in your life, by paying back what was paid (20 CFR 404.640), or suspend payments between full retirement age and 70 to earn delayed credits.

Updated November 7, 2026