Your Social Security benefit changes dramatically depending on when you claim it. Enter your estimated benefit and see exactly how much more — or less — you'd get by claiming early, at Full Retirement Age, or at 70.
| Claim at 62 | Full Retirement Age | Claim at 70 |
|---|---|---|
| — | — | — |
Breakeven age (62 vs FRA): — · Breakeven age (FRA vs 70): —
Your Social Security benefit at Full Retirement Age (FRA) is fixed based on your lifetime earnings. But the actual monthly amount you receive depends heavily on when you start claiming. Claim before FRA and your benefit is permanently reduced. Claim after FRA and it's permanently increased — up until age 70, when the increases stop.
If you claim before your Full Retirement Age, your benefit is reduced by 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months early, and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month beyond that. For someone with an FRA of 67 claiming at 62 — 60 months early — this works out to roughly a 30% permanent reduction compared to waiting until FRA.
For each year you delay claiming past your FRA, up to age 70, your benefit increases by about 8% — technically 2/3 of 1% per month. This is one of the few guaranteed, inflation-adjusted returns available anywhere, which is why many financial planners recommend delaying if you can afford to and are in reasonably good health.
The breakeven age is the point at which someone who claimed later has received as much total money as someone who claimed earlier — after that point, the later claimer comes out ahead in lifetime totals. Comparing age 62 to FRA, breakeven is typically in the late 70s. Comparing FRA to age 70, breakeven is typically in the early-to-mid 80s. If you expect to live past your relevant breakeven age, waiting tends to pay off financially over your full retirement.
The numbers are only part of the decision. Health and family longevity matter — if you have health concerns or a family history of shorter lifespans, claiming earlier may make sense regardless of the math. Marital status matters too: a lower-earning spouse's survivor benefit is based on the higher earner's benefit, so a higher earner delaying can meaningfully protect a surviving spouse's income. Continued work also matters — claiming early while still working can trigger the earnings test, temporarily withholding part of your benefit.