The age you start claiming Social Security has a massive impact on your lifetime benefits. Your full retirement age (FRA) is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
Claiming at 62 (earliest possible): your benefit is permanently reduced by about 30% compared to your FRA amount. If your FRA benefit would be $2,000 per month, you would receive $1,400 at 62.
Claiming at 67 (FRA): you receive 100% of your calculated benefit. Using the same example, $2,000 per month.
Waiting until 70: your benefit increases by 8% per year beyond FRA. From 67 to 70, that is a 24% increase. Your $2,000 FRA benefit becomes $2,480 per month — $480 more every month for the rest of your life.
The break-even calculation helps decide. If you claim at 62 instead of 67, you receive five extra years of payments but at a lower amount. The break-even point is typically around age 80. If you live past 80, waiting until 67 gives you more total lifetime income.
If you wait until 70 instead of 67, the break-even point versus FRA is approximately age 82 to 83.
Factors favoring early claiming at 62 include poor health or shorter life expectancy, immediate financial need, and having a spouse with a higher benefit who can claim later. Factors favoring waiting until 70 include good health and longevity in your family, other income sources to cover living expenses, and wanting the highest possible guaranteed lifetime income.
For married couples, a common strategy is to have the higher earner delay until 70 to maximize the survivor benefit, while the lower earner claims earlier.
Use our Social Security estimator to compare your benefit at different claiming ages.