Social Security claiming age calculator
Your benefit at every age from 62 to 70, what each one pays over a lifetime, and the ages at which waiting pays off.
Your numbers
From your Social Security statement.
Totals count payments up to this age.
0% compares plain totals. Higher values count later money for less.
Result
Your full retirement age is 67. Living to 90, claiming at 70 pays the most in all.
- Claiming at 67 instead of 62 pulls ahead at 78 and 8 months.
- Claiming at 70 instead of 67 pulls ahead at 82 and 6 months.
- Claiming at 70 instead of 62 pulls ahead at 80 and 5 months.
| Claim at | Per month | Of full amount | Total to 90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $1,400 | 70.0% | $470,400 |
| 63 | $1,500 | 75.0% | $486,000 |
| 64 | $1,600 | 80.0% | $499,200 |
| 65 | $1,733 | 86.7% | $520,000 |
| 66 | $1,867 | 93.3% | $537,600 |
| 67 (full) | $2,000 | 100.0% | $552,000 |
| 68 | $2,160 | 108.0% | $570,240 |
| 69 | $2,320 | 116.0% | $584,640 |
| 70 | $2,480 | 124.0% | $595,200 |
| Age | Claim at 62 | Claim at 67 | Claim at 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 65 | $50,400 | $0 | $0 |
| 68 | $100,800 | $24,000 | $0 |
| 71 | $151,200 | $96,000 | $29,760 |
| 74 | $201,600 | $168,000 | $119,040 |
| 77 | $252,000 | $240,000 | $208,320 |
| 80 | $302,400 | $312,000 | $297,600 |
| 83 | $352,800 | $384,000 | $386,880 |
| 86 | $403,200 | $456,000 | $476,160 |
| 89 | $453,600 | $528,000 | $565,440 |
| 92 | $504,000 | $600,000 | $654,720 |
| 95 | $554,400 | $672,000 | $744,000 |
RetirementPace is an educational tool, not financial, tax or legal advice. RetirementPace is not a registered investment adviser.
Track whether you stay on pace
A calculator answers today. Pace is whether you’re still on track next month and next year. Save this as a plan in the free planner (it stays in your browser), and soon record your real balances each month to see if you’re ahead or behind.
How it works
Full retirement age comes from SSA’s table by birth year. Claiming earlier takes 5/9 of 1% off for each of the first 36 months before it and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond that. Waiting adds 2/3 of 1% a month until 70. These are the same rules the planner uses, each linked to its SSA page in the methodology.
Benefits are in today’s dollars: the yearly cost-of-living adjustment is assumed to match inflation, so a benefit buys the same every year. Payments start in the month you claim and are totalled up to the age you enter. A discount rate above 0% counts each year’s payments for less the later they arrive, as if the money could otherwise have been invested at that real return.
Worked example
Someone born in 1965 with a full-retirement-age benefit of $2,000 a month would get $1,400 a month at 62, or $2,480 at 70. Claiming at 70 instead of 62 pulls ahead at 80 and 5 months. Living to 90, 70 pays the most: $595,200 in today’s dollars.
Questions
What is my full retirement age?
It depends only on the year you were born: 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, between 66 and 67 for 1955 to 1959, rising two months a year, and 66 for 1943 to 1954. SSA treats a birthday on 1 January as the year before.
How much smaller is the benefit at 62?
With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full amount for life. SSA takes off 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond that.
How much bigger is it at 70?
Each month you wait past full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%, or 8% a year, until 70. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 70 pays 124% of the full amount. There is no gain in waiting past 70.
What is the break-even age?
The age at which the total paid by a later claim catches up with the total paid by an earlier one. Live past it and the later claim has paid more in all; die before it and the earlier claim has. It is a comparison of totals, not a prediction of how long you will live.
Does this include spousal and survivor benefits?
No. For a married couple the higher earner’s claiming age also sets the survivor benefit, which often makes waiting worth more than this comparison shows. The earnings test (benefits withheld while you work before full retirement age) and income tax on benefits are not included either.
Where do I find my benefit at full retirement age?
Your Social Security statement shows your estimated monthly benefit at full retirement age. You can see it by signing in to your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.