When Should I Claim Social Security: 62, 67 or 70?

Name: When Should I Claim Social Security: 62, 67 or 70?
Author: Acun Özdilek

When should I claim Social Security: at 62, 67 or 70? With no return on the early checks, waiting to 70 instead of claiming at 62 pays more in total once you reach about age 80 and 5 months.

Example numbers

The verdictfrom an example

Waiting to 70 instead of claiming at 62 pays more in total once you reach about age 80 and 5 months. Before that age, claiming at 62 has paid more.

Worked on $2,000 a month at 67, so $1,400 at 62 or $2,480 at 70, with no return on the early checks. Change anything below to use yours.

Monthly at 62: $1,400
Monthly at 67: $2,000
Monthly at 70: $2,480

The figures behind it

Monthly at 62: $1,400; 30% less than at 67, for life.
Monthly at 67: $2,000; Your full retirement age benefit, as entered.
Monthly at 70: $2,480; 24% more than at 67, for life.
67 passes 62 at: age 78 and 9 months
70 passes 67 at: age 82 and 7 months
70 passes 62 at: age 80 and 5 months

Payment scheduleShow

Age	Claim at 62	Claim at 67	Claim at 70
62	$16,800	$0	$0
63	$33,600	$0	$0
64	$50,400	$0	$0
65	$67,200	$0	$0
66	$84,000	$0	$0
67	$100,800	$24,000	$0
68	$117,600	$48,000	$0
69	$134,400	$72,000	$0
70	$151,200	$96,000	$29,760
71	$168,000	$120,000	$59,520
72	$184,800	$144,000	$89,280
73	$201,600	$168,000	$119,040
74	$218,400	$192,000	$148,800
75	$235,200	$216,000	$178,560
76	$252,000	$240,000	$208,320
77	$268,800	$264,000	$238,080
78	$285,600	$288,000	$267,840
79	$302,400	$312,000	$297,600
80	$319,200	$336,000	$327,360
81	$336,000	$360,000	$357,120
82	$352,800	$384,000	$386,880
83	$369,600	$408,000	$416,640
84	$386,400	$432,000	$446,400
85	$403,200	$456,000	$476,160
86	$420,000	$480,000	$505,920
87	$436,800	$504,000	$535,680
88	$453,600	$528,000	$565,440
89	$470,400	$552,000	$595,200
90	$487,200	$576,000	$624,960
91	$504,000	$600,000	$654,720
92	$520,800	$624,000	$684,480
93	$537,600	$648,000	$714,240
94	$554,400	$672,000	$744,000
95	$571,200	$696,000	$773,760
96	$588,000	$720,000	$803,520
97	$604,800	$744,000	$833,280
98	$621,600	$768,000	$863,040
99	$638,400	$792,000	$892,800

What this result assumes

You enter your benefit at full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Under SSA rules, claiming at 62 pays 30% less for life and waiting to 70 pays 24% more.
For the higher earner in a married couple, waiting also raises the survivor benefit the other spouse would get if the higher earner dies first. Treat the value of waiting shown here as a lower bound.
Figures are in today's dollars. Social Security's yearly cost-of-living increase applies to every claiming age alike, so it is left out of all three. Enter the return as a return above inflation.
The earnings test, which can hold back benefits if you claim before full retirement age and keep working, is not modelled. Neither is income tax on benefits.
The table shows what each choice has paid by the end of each age.

Enter your benefit at 67 to see all three break-even ages, and add a return to see how investing the early checks can push them later.

Methodology

Reviewed October 5, 2026 by Acun Özdilek

The monthly amounts at 62, 67 and 70

You enter your benefit at full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. SSA cuts it for each month you claim before 67: 5/9 of 1% a month for the first 36 months, then 5/12 of 1% a month for the months beyond that. Claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full amount. Each month you wait past 67 adds a credit of 2/3 of 1% (8% a year) until 70, so waiting to 70 pays 124%. Either amount is paid for life.

The retirement calculator projects how savings grow before you stop working. It leaves Social Security out, which is what this page covers.

The break-even age

The calculator adds up what each choice has paid, month by month, from your 62nd birthday. The break-even age is the first month in which the later claim has paid strictly more in total than the earlier one. Before that month the earlier claim is ahead, because it started sooner. After it, the larger check from waiting has made up the gap.

With a return, every check, early or late, is invested and earns that return until the age shown. Money that arrives early has longer to grow, so a return can move the break-even later. If the later claim has not caught up by age 100, the page says so instead of showing an age.

We count each check at the end of its month; SSA's own rounding can move the answer by about a month. The estimates for 62 and 70 on your statement at ssa.gov/myaccount assume you keep working until that age, so they can differ from the amounts here, which come from your benefit at 67.

What the page leaves out

For the higher earner in a married couple, waiting also raises the survivor benefit the other spouse would get if the higher earner dies first. Treat the value of waiting shown here as a lower bound. Spousal benefits are not modelled either.

The earnings test, which can hold back benefits if you claim before full retirement age and keep working, is not modelled. Neither is income tax on benefits; the Roth IRA calculator covers tax-free retirement income. Social Security's yearly cost-of-living increase applies to every claiming age alike, so all figures are in today's dollars.

Assumptions

Your benefit at 67 is entered as is; 62 and 70 follow SSA reduction and credit rules.
For the higher earner in a married couple, waiting also raises the survivor benefit the other spouse would get if the higher earner dies first. Treat the value of waiting shown here as a lower bound.
Figures are in today's dollars, and the return is a return above inflation.
The earnings test and income tax on benefits are not modelled.
Each check counts at the end of its month.

Sources

Common questions

What is the break-even age for 62 vs 70?

About 80 and 5 months with no return on the early checks, for any benefit amount. For 62 vs 67 it is about 78 and 9 months, and for 67 vs 70 about 82 and 7 months, for any whole-dollar benefit; some amounts with odd cents land a month earlier.

What if I invest the early checks?

Money that arrives early has longer to grow, so the break-even can move later. At a 3% return above inflation, 62 vs 70 moves to about 84 and 6 months. At higher returns the break-even can pass age 100, and above a little over 7% waiting to 70 does not catch up at any age.

I'm married. Does that change the answer?

Can I claim at 65 or another age?

Yes, in any month from 62 to 70. At 65 the benefit is 86.7% of the full amount. This page compares 62, 67 and 70.

What if I keep working before 67?

Claiming before full retirement age while you work can bring in the earnings test, which holds back some benefits if your earnings pass a yearly limit. This page does not model it. If you need cash before claiming, 401(k) loan or early withdrawal compares two ways of drawing on savings early.

Is a pension lump sum part of the same decision?

It is a separate choice, but the trade-off is alike: money sooner, or a larger payment for life. Pension lump sum or monthly payments shows the return a lump sum must earn to match the pension.

All retirement →

Result