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Claim Social Security at 62, 67 or 70: when does waiting pay off?
Enter the monthly benefit on your Social Security Statement. See the month when a later claim's running total catches up with an earlier one, the chance you live past it, and what each claiming age is worth over a lifetime by the life tables. All amounts are in today's dollars; everything is worked out in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.
The three ages in one line each
Claim at 62
The earliest age. 70% of your full benefit (PIA) every month, but five more years of it.
Claim at 67
Full retirement age (FRA) for everyone born in 1960 or later: 100% of the PIA.
Claim at 70
8% more for each year after 67, up to 124% of the PIA at 70. Waiting past 70 adds nothing.
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Results
62 vs 70: break-even (no interest)80 years 5 months
With 2.94% interest84 years 3 months
Highest expected valueClaim at 66
Monthly benefit by claiming age
Total received: when a later claim catches up
| Comparison | No interest | With interest |
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Your chance of living past these ages
Lifetime expected value (by the life table)
Couple: expected lifetime benefits for the two of you
Total received by the age you die (no interest)
401(k) bridge: what is left in the account
Assumptions and limits
- Amounts are in today's dollars: benefits rise with inflation every year (COLA), so they are discounted at a real, after-inflation rate. COLA may not match the inflation you feel.
- Claiming is at whole ages (62, 63 … 70), worked out month by month. No benefit is paid for the month of death; a survivor switches to the survivor benefit from that month. Break-even ages are in months too: 62 vs 70 is age 80.37 on a continuous basis, or 80 years 5 months in whole months.
- For people born 1960–1975, full retirement age (FRA) is 67. Early: 5/9 of 1% less for each of the 36 months before FRA, 5/12 of 1% for each month before that. Late (delayed retirement credits): 2/3 of 1% more a month (8% a year), up to 70.
- Spousal benefit: once both have filed, the lower earner gets an extra amount: half the other's PIA minus their own PIA, reduced at the spousal-benefit rates if taken early (65% at 62), with no delayed retirement credits.
- Survivor benefit: the deceased's amount, delayed retirement credits included. If the deceased claimed early, it is at most the larger of 82.5% of their PIA and their reduced benefit. A survivor taking it before the survivors' full retirement age gets less (71.5% at 60); that age is 66 and 8 months for people born in 1960, 66 and 10 months for 1961, and 67 from 1962.
- Couples: same age, lifespans independent, both retired (no earnings test), a survivor switches to the survivor benefit at once; no children's benefits, family maximum or divorced spouses.
- Life tables are averages for large groups; your own health and family history matter more (the health setting is a rough adjustment). The Asian American table is an average too and hides large differences; recent immigrants may have fewer years of U.S. work, and Social Security may be a different share of their income.
- Trust fund cut: the share you choose is assumed to be paid from the quarter you pick onward, with no further decline and no reform by Congress.
- 401(k) bridge: federal income tax only (single filer; 2026 brackets and standard deduction, $2,050 more from 65; the $25,000 / $34,000 thresholds for taxing Social Security are not indexed, so they shrink by 2.5% inflation a year in today's dollars). No state tax, IRMAA, RMDs, Roth conversions, health insurance before 65 or trust fund cut. The temporary $6,000 senior deduction for 2025–2028 is left out: it would only lower the tax in the years to 2028 for someone already 65 (someone 62 this year turns 65 in 2029).
Sources
- SSA: early-claiming reduction and delayed retirement credits (ar_drc, early_late), spousal benefits (spouse), survivor benefits and the 82.5% limit (survivor, survivors' FRA, POMS RS 00615.320); read 2026-10-26.
- SSA: life tables by year of birth (2026 Trustees Report, intermediate assumptions, male / female) and the 2023 period table; downloaded 2026-10-26.
- SSA: 2026 Trustees Report, released 2026-06-09 (OASI Q4 2032, 78%; OASDI combined Q3 2034, 83%); read 2026-10-26.
- IRS: 2026 brackets and standard deduction (IR-2025-103 / Rev. Proc. 2025-32, checked 2026-10-17); Publication 915 on taxing benefits (2025 edition, read 2026-10-26).
- U.S. Treasury: Daily Treasury Par Real Yield Curve Rates, 20-year 2.94% on 2026-10-23.
- NCHS: United States Life Tables, 2024 (NVSR vol. 75 no. 5, released 2026-08-25); downloaded 2026-10-26.
For learning only. Not investment, tax or legal advice.