Social Security claiming strategies: 62, 67, or 70?

How Social Security is calculated

Your monthly benefit is based on your 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for wage inflation. The SSA averages these into your AIME, then applies a progressive formula with "bend points" to produce your PIA — the amount you'd receive at full retirement age (FRA).

For most people retiring today, FRA is 67. If you were born between 1955-1959, it's somewhere between 66 and 66 years 10 months.

The 62 vs 67 vs 70 trade-off

The same lifetime earnings produce very different monthly cheques depending on when you claim:

• Claim at 62 — Permanent reduction of about 30%. If your FRA benefit would be $2,000/mo, you'd get roughly $1,400/mo for life.
• Claim at 67 (FRA) — 100% of your PIA. The $2,000/mo baseline.
• Claim at 70 — Permanent increase of 24% via delayed retirement credits. That $2,000 becomes about $2,480/mo for life.

Difference between claiming at 62 and 70: roughly 77% more income every month, for the rest of your life, plus annual cost-of-living adjustments applied to a bigger base.

The break-even math

Delaying means giving up cheques today in exchange for bigger cheques later. The crossover point — where total dollars received catch up — is the break-even age.

• 62 vs 67 — Break-even around age 78.
• 67 vs 70 — Break-even around age 82-83.
• 62 vs 70 — Break-even around age 80-81.

US life expectancy at 65 is about 83 for men and 86 for women. For a healthy 65-year-old, the odds favour delaying. For someone with serious health issues or a family history of short lifespans, claiming earlier is rational.

Don't forget the longevity hedge

Social Security is the only retirement income most Americans have that is inflation-adjusted, guaranteed, and lasts for life. Delaying converts portfolio risk into guaranteed income — which matters most if you live to 90+ and your savings start running low.

Spousal and survivor strategies

Couples have more levers than singles. The big ones:

• Spousal benefit — A lower-earning spouse can claim up to 50% of the higher earner's FRA benefit, reduced if claimed before their own FRA.
• Survivor benefit — When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two benefits. Delaying the higher earner's claim to 70 maximises this lifetime payout.
• "Split" strategy — The lower earner claims early (62-67) for cash flow; the higher earner delays to 70 to lock in the biggest survivor benefit.

When claiming early actually makes sense

• You're in poor health and don't expect to reach the break-even age.
• You need the income now and have no other way to bridge.
• You're the lower-earning spouse and your partner is delaying to 70.
• You expect to invest the early payments and believe you'll out-earn the 8%/yr delayed retirement credit (rare — that's a high hurdle on a risk-free, inflation-linked benefit).

When delaying to 70 wins

• You're healthy, with a family history of longevity.
• You have other assets (401(k), IRA, brokerage) to live on between retirement and 70.
• You're married and you're the higher earner — delaying boosts the survivor benefit.
• You want maximum protection against outliving your money.

How to optimise your number

The SSA's official estimator (ssa.gov) uses your actual earnings record — start there. Then run scenarios:

• Check your benefit at 62, 67, and 70 from your SSA statement.
• Estimate your portfolio drawdown if you delay (how much will you spend from savings between retirement and claiming?).
• Project total lifetime income to ages 80, 85, and 90 for each claiming age.
• Couples: model joint claiming combinations, not just individual ones.

Pair the Social Security decision with your overall plan in the RetireSmart calculator, and read our Can I retire at 55 in the US? guide for how Social Security fits with Medicare, the Rule of 55, and the 59½ cliff.