US Social Security claiming age calculator
Starting Social Security early pays less for longer; waiting pays more for fewer years. Enter your monthly benefit at full retirement age and your birth year to compare every starting age.
Your figures
The result updates as you change a figure. Nothing you type is saved.
Result
Claiming at 70 overtakes claiming at 62 from age 80.
| Claiming age | Yearly benefit at start | Received by 75 | Received by 80 | Received by 85 | Received by 90 | Received by 95 | Overtakes the row above at age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $16,800 | $218,400 | $302,400 | $386,400 | $470,400 | $554,400 | -- |
| 63 | $18,000 | $216,000 | $306,000 | $396,000 | $486,000 | $576,000 | 77 |
| 64 | $19,200 | $211,200 | $307,200 | $403,200 | $499,200 | $595,200 | 79 |
| 65 | $20,800 | $208,000 | $312,000 | $416,000 | $520,000 | $624,000 | 77 |
| 66 | $22,400 | $201,600 | $313,600 | $425,600 | $537,600 | $649,600 | 79 |
| 67 | $24,000 | $192,000 | $312,000 | $432,000 | $552,000 | $672,000 | 81 |
| 68 | $25,920 | $181,440 | $311,040 | $440,640 | $570,240 | $699,840 | 80 |
| 69 | $27,840 | $167,040 | $306,240 | $445,440 | $584,640 | $723,840 | 82 |
| 70 | $29,760 | $148,800 | $297,600 | $446,400 | $595,200 | $744,000 | 84 |
All amounts are in today's money.
How this is worked out
You can start Social Security at any age from 62 to 70. If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67; earlier birth years have an earlier one. Each month you start before your full retirement age cuts the benefit by 5/9 of 1% for the first 36 months and by 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond, so a start at 62 pays 70% of the full benefit for life. Each month you wait past it adds a delayed retirement credit of 2/3 of 1%, 8% a year, up to 70, so a start at 70 pays 124%.
The table gives the yearly benefit at each starting age and the total received by several ages. The breakeven age is the age at which a later start has paid as much in total as an earlier one: if you expect to live past it, waiting pays more. With a spouse, the table also gives the survivor benefit your spouse would receive a year if you died right after starting: your benefit as paid, and at least 82.5% of your full benefit after an early start.
Assumptions and limits
Amounts are in today's money: the benefit keeps pace with inflation through the yearly cost-of-living adjustment. Your spouse is taken to claim the survivor benefit at their own full retirement age; a spouse whose own benefit is larger keeps it instead, never both. The spousal benefit, the earnings test before full retirement age, taxes and Medicare premiums are left out.
Sources
- SSA - Benefit reduction for early retirement (checked 2026-10-28)
- SSA - Early or late retirement (checked 2026-10-28)
- SSA - Delayed retirement credits (checked 2026-10-28)
An illustration with simplified rules, not financial advice.