Choosing between claiming Social Security at 62 or waiting until 70 can create a wide gap in your monthly income. Starting early gives you more years of payments, while delaying may increase the amount of each check. The tradeoff comes down to how long you expect to collect benefits and how much income you need along the way. Comparing the break-even point can help show when waiting may produce more cumulative benefits.
A financial advisor can help you plan for retirement at any age.
How Claiming Age Changes Your Social Security Benefit
The size of your monthly retirement check largely depends on the age at which you start collecting. Your earnings history establishes the foundation for your payment, but when you claim affects the portion you receive each month.
Claiming at 62 Means a Smaller Monthly Benefit
Age 62 is generally the earliest you can begin collecting Social Security retirement benefits. Claiming that early comes with a permanent reduction in your monthly payment. Social Security calculates the reduction based on how many months before your full retirement age (FRA) you begin receiving benefits.
For people born in 1960 or later, FRA is 67. In that case, claiming at 62 means starting benefits 60 months early. This generally reduces a worker’s retirement benefit by 30% compared with the amount available at FRA. For example, someone entitled to $2,000 per month at FRA would receive approximately $1,400 at 62, before considering other adjustments. 1
Waiting Until Full Retirement Age
Waiting until FRA allows you to receive 100% of the retirement benefit calculated from your earnings record. The Social Security Administration (SSA) sometimes refers to this as your primary insurance amount. FRA varies by birth year, so it is not 67 for everyone. It gradually increases from 66 for people born from 1943-1954 to 67 for those born after 1959. 2
Your earnings history also matters independently of your claiming age. Social Security generally calculates retirement benefits using your highest 35 years of earnings. Continuing to work may increase your eventual benefit if new higher-earning years replace lower-earning years in the calculation.
Delaying Benefits Can Increase Your Check
If you wait beyond FRA, delayed retirement credits can increase your monthly retirement benefit. For people born in 1943 or later, these credits generally increase benefits by 8% per year, or two-thirds of 1% for each month benefits are delayed beyond FRA.
For someone with an FRA of 67, waiting until 70 generally produces a retirement benefit equal to 124% of the FRA amount. A $2,000 FRA benefit, for example, would increase to approximately $2,480 per month at 70, before future cost-of-living adjustments. 3
Benefits Stop Growing at 70
Delayed retirement credits stop accumulating at age 70, so waiting beyond 70 does not produce a larger retirement benefit based on claiming age.
This creates an important tradeoff. Claiming at 62 provides smaller checks for more years, while waiting can provide substantially larger monthly payments for fewer years. Which approach produces more lifetime income ultimately depends in part on your life expectancy and when you need retirement income.
How Much Social Security Can You Get at 62 vs. 70?
For someone retiring in 2026 who earned the taxable maximum throughout the applicable career period, the maximum monthly retirement benefit is $2,969 at 62, $4,152 at FRA and $5,181 at 70. 4
These are maximums, not typical payments. The estimated average benefit for all retired workers in January 2026 is $2,071 monthly, and individual benefits depend largely on lifetime earnings and claiming age. 5
Comparing Benefits at 62 and 70
Consider someone born in 1960 or later with an FRA benefit of $2,500. Ignoring future cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), the comparison could look something like this:
| Claiming age | Monthly benefit | Annual benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | $1,750 | $21,000 |
| 67 (FRA) | $2,500 | $30,000 |
| 70 | $3,100 | $37,200 |
Waiting from 62 until 70 increases this hypothetical monthly check by $1,350, or about 77%. The tradeoff is giving up eight years of $1,750 monthly payments while waiting.
When Does Waiting Until 70 Break Even?
Claiming at 62 would provide about $168,000 over the eight years before age 70. Starting at 70 instead provides $16,200 more annually thereafter, meaning the higher payments would make up that $168,000 difference in roughly 10.4 years, around age 80.
Someone who lives well beyond that break-even age could collect more total benefits by waiting, while someone who claims at 62 receives income for more years. Keep in mind that this simplified calculation excludes COLAs, taxes, investment returns and other factors.
How to Choose a Social Security Claiming Age
Choosing when to claim Social Security involves more than comparing the monthly benefit available at 62 with the larger check available at 70. Your health, life expectancy, retirement date, savings and other retirement income sources can all influence whether claiming earlier or delaying benefits makes more sense for your retirement plan.
Someone who retires at 62 and needs Social Security to cover essential expenses may have fewer reasons to delay, particularly if drawing heavily from savings would otherwise be necessary. By contrast, a retiree with sufficient savings, pension income or earnings may have more flexibility to postpone Social Security and lock in a larger monthly benefit later.
Life expectancy is another important consideration. Delaying benefits can become more financially attractive for retirees who expect to live well into their 80s or beyond because they have more time to collect the higher monthly payment. Claiming earlier, however, provides income for additional years. This may be preferable for someone facing shorter life expectancy, or who may already be in ailing health.
Your investment portfolio can also affect the calculation. Delaying Social Security may require larger withdrawals from retirement accounts between retirement and age 70, while claiming earlier could reduce the immediate pressure on those savings. Taxes, investment returns and required expenses can further affect which approach produces the stronger overall outcome.
Married couples have another factor to consider: survivor benefits. When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse may qualify for a survivor benefit based on the deceased spouse’s record. Delaying the higher earner’s retirement benefit can potentially increase the benefit available to the surviving spouse, making claiming decisions part of a broader household retirement-income strategy.
Bottom Line
Claiming Social Security at 62 provides retirement income sooner, but it permanently reduces your monthly benefit compared with waiting until full retirement age or age 70. Delaying can produce a substantially larger monthly check and potentially more lifetime benefits if you live beyond the break-even point, but it also means giving up years of payments. The right claiming age ultimately depends on factors such as life expectancy, cash-flow needs, retirement savings, other income and, for married couples, potential survivor benefits.
Tips for Planning for Retirement
- A financial advisor can help determine how Social Security fits with other income sources in your retirement plan. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
- Don’t forget to factor Social Security benefits into your savings total. Use SmartAsset’s Social Security calculator to determine how much you’ll receive.
Photo credit: ©iStock.com/Richard Stephen, ©iStock.com/Galeanu Mihai, ©iStock.com/Greggory DiSalvo
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