Find the age at which claiming U.S. Social Security retirement benefits is worth the most, or compare two claiming ages to see where waiting starts to pay off.
Your full retirement age depends on the year you were born: 66 for 1943 to 1954, rising by two months a year to 66 and 10 months for 1959, and 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. You can start collecting as early as 62, but the check is permanently smaller. Claiming before full retirement age cuts it by 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months early and 5/12 of 1% for every month after that, which is a 30% cut at 62 when full retirement age is 67.
Each month you delay past full retirement age earns delayed retirement credits of 2/3 of 1%, or 8% a year, up to age 70. Waiting from 67 to 70 therefore raises the monthly check by 24%. There is no extra credit for waiting beyond 70, so there is no reason to delay past that point.
For each age from 62 to 70, it adds up the benefits you would collect through your life expectancy. Each yearly payment grows with the cost-of-living adjustment, then is discounted back to age 62 at your investment return, so a dollar received later counts for less. The age with the highest total scores 100%, and the others show how close they come. A higher investment return favors claiming sooner, while a longer life expectancy or higher cost-of-living adjustment favors waiting.
For each claiming age, the calculator adds up the benefits you would collect through your life expectancy, adjusting for the yearly cost-of-living increase and discounting future payments at your investment return. It then scales the best age to 100%, so every other age shows how close it comes to the best choice.
Waiting trades smaller checks now for larger checks later. If you expect a shorter life, the larger checks have less time to pay off, so claiming early wins. If you expect a long life, the higher monthly amount eventually more than makes up for the years you waited.
It is the life expectancy at which claiming later has collected the same total value as claiming earlier. If you expect to live past that age, the later claim comes out ahead. If not, the earlier claim does.
No. It compares claiming ages as a share of the benefit you would get at your full retirement age. You can enter that monthly amount to see dollar figures, and your personal estimate is on your statement from the Social Security Administration.
No. It looks only at your own retirement benefit and ignores spousal and survivor benefits, taxes on benefits, and the earnings limit that applies if you claim early while still working. Those can change the best choice, especially for married couples.
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