Claim early at 62, at full retirement, or wait until 70? See the monthly checks and the age where waiting finally pays off.
Your “primary insurance amount” — the monthly check at your full retirement age. Find it on your my Social Security statement.
The longer you expect to live, the more delaying tends to win.
Social Security is adjusted for inflation each year, which lifts every option equally over time.
This Social Security calculator shows your monthly benefit at every claiming age — reduced if you take it early, boosted by delayed-retirement credits if you wait — and charts the cumulative benefits of each choice to reveal the break-even age where waiting finally collects more in total.
Claiming before full retirement age reduces your benefit by 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months early and 5/12 of 1% beyond that; delaying past full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1% per month (8% a year) up to age 70. The calculator charts the cumulative benefits of claiming at 62, full retirement, and 70, and finds the break-even age where waiting collects more in total.
Claiming at 62 gives smaller checks for longer; waiting until 70 gives larger checks for fewer years. Waiting usually wins if you live into your 80s. The break-even age is typically around 80, which this calculator pinpoints for your benefit.
Delaying past full retirement age earns about 8% more per year in delayed-retirement credits, so claiming at 70 instead of 67 raises the monthly benefit by roughly 24%, and by about 77% versus claiming at 62.
It's the age at which the larger checks from claiming later add up to more than the head start from claiming early. Live past it and waiting paid off; live shorter and claiming early collected more.
There's no universal answer. Claiming early gives smaller checks sooner; waiting gives larger checks later. If you expect to live past your early 80s, delaying usually collects more overall.
Delaying from full retirement age (67 for most) to 70 raises the monthly benefit by about 24%, and by roughly 77% compared with claiming at 62 — a permanent, inflation-adjusted increase.
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