When should you start Social Security?

You can claim Social Security at any age from 62 to 70, and the choice sets the size of your check for the rest of your life. There is no age that is right for everyone. SSA's own advice is that the answer "is personal and depends on several factors, such as your current cash needs, your current health, and family longevity." What follows is how the numbers work, so the choice is an informed one.

Full retirement age

Your Social Security Statement gives your benefit at full retirement age. That age depends on the year you were born: 66 for those born from 1943 to 1954, rising by two months a year to 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claim at exactly that age and you get the full amount.

Earlier is smaller, later is larger

"You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62", but each month before full retirement age cuts the benefit, permanently: "The percentage reduction is 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month." With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early: a 30% cut.

Each month you wait past full retirement age adds a delayed retirement credit of 2/3 of 1%, or 8% a year, until "The benefit increase stops when you reach age 70." From 67, that is 24%.

SSA's own example: a $2,000 benefit at 67 becomes $1,400 at 62 and $2,480 at 70. The 70 figure is about 77% more than the 62 figure, for life. Amounts here are in today's dollars; benefits get a cost-of-living adjustment each year, which keeps them roughly level in real terms.

Break-even thinking

Claiming later means giving up years of checks in exchange for bigger ones. The break-even age is when the bigger checks have made up for the missed ones, so both choices have paid the same in total. For the $2,000 example:

• 62 against 67: about 78 years and 8 months.
• 67 against 70: 82 and a half.
• 62 against 70: about 80 years and 4 months.

Live past the break-even and waiting paid more in total; die before it and claiming early did. The Social Security claiming calculator works these out from your own benefit and birth year, with the total each age pays by the age you plan to.

The limits of the break-even

The break-even makes it sound like a bet on dying early or late, and it is partly that. But it misses what the money is for. A larger benefit that lasts as long as you do and rises with inflation is insurance against the expensive outcome: living a long time and running short. The case for waiting is strongest exactly where you would most regret not having waited.

So the useful question is less "will I beat the break-even?" than "how long might I need income, and what happens if it is longer?" SSA notes that married couples at 65 "would typically have at least a 50/50 chance that 1 member of the couple will live beyond age 90."

Investing the early checks moves the break-even later. If every check from 62 were invested and earned more than inflation, it would take longer for the larger benefit to catch up, and at a high enough return it never does. That assumes the money is invested rather than spent and the return actually arrives.

Survivor benefits

For a married couple, the higher earner's claiming age matters twice. SSA: "If you are the higher earner, and you delay when you start your retirement benefit, it will result in higher monthly benefits for the rest of your life. If you die first, it will result in higher survivor protection for your spouse." Delaying can protect the survivor's income long after the higher earner has died. Spousal benefits, paid while both are alive, depend on both records and ages; SSA explains them under family benefits.

Working while you claim

Claim before full retirement age and keep working, and the earnings test may hold back part of your benefit. "If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit." In 2026 that limit is $24,480 ($25,560 in 2027). In the year you reach full retirement age a higher limit, $65,160 in 2026, applies to the months before it, at $1 for every $3.

The withheld money is not gone. At full retirement age, SSA says, "We will recalculate your benefit amount to give you credit for the months we reduced or withheld benefits due to your excess earnings." Still, if you plan to keep earning a full salary, claiming early mostly means having it held back.

Taxes on benefits

Benefits can be taxable once your income passes a threshold. IRS Publication 915 compares half your benefits plus your other income with a base amount of "$25,000 if you are single, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse" and "$32,000 if you are married filing jointly". Above it: "Generally, up to 50% of your benefits will be taxable." Above $34,000 ($44,000 jointly), up to 85% can be. When you claim changes how much of your benefit is taxable in each year, and how that combines with withdrawals from retirement accounts.

When claiming early can still make sense

Waiting is not always the better choice.

• Your health or family history suggests a shorter life. The break-even is a real line, and if you are unlikely to pass it, the earlier checks pay more.
• You need the income now and have nothing else to live on. A larger check at 70 is no help if you cannot get there.
• You have no savings to bridge the gap. Waiting from retirement to 70 means living on savings in the meantime. The retirement calculator shows what that bridge costs, and the guide on whether you are on track for retirement explains it.
• You are the lower earner in a couple. The survivor protection SSA describes comes from the higher earner's delay, so that reason to wait applies less.

For many people the answer lands between the extremes: work a little longer, draw on savings for a few years, and claim at full retirement age or later. The point is to choose, rather than claim at 62 by default.

Sources: SSA, Starting Your Retirement Benefits Early, Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement, Delayed Retirement Credits, When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits (May 2024), Receiving Benefits While Working and Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test. IRS, Publication 915 (2025). Break-even ages computed with this site's own code.