Should you claim Social Security at 62, at full retirement age or at 70? Enter your birth year and full-age benefit to see the monthly check for each choice, the cumulative total by age, and the age at which waiting starts to pay off.
Last updated:
Your benefit
Born January 1? Use the year before.
$
Your PIA, shown on your Social Security statement.
Assumptions
%
%
0 = simple totals. A return favors claiming earlier.
years
Enter your values to see the result.
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How to use the Social Security Break-Even Calculator
Enter your birth year to set your full retirement age.
Enter your monthly benefit at full retirement age (your primary insurance amount) from your Social Security statement.
Set a COLA and, if you would invest early benefits, an expected return.
Read the break-even ages: if you expect to live beyond them, waiting pays more in total.
Check the chart and table for cumulative benefits by age and which choice is ahead.
How the break-even age is calculated
Benefit at each claiming age. Early: PIA × (1 − 5/9% × first 36 months early − 5/12% × extra months). Delayed: PIA × (1 + 2/3% × months after full retirement age).
Cumulative totals. For every month from 62 to 101, each strategy adds its monthly check (raised by COLA once a year). With an investment return, the running total also earns interest.
Break-even. The first month in which the later claimer's running total is at least as large as the earlier claimer's.
Example with a full retirement age of 67 and a $2,000 full benefit, no COLA: 62 pays $1,400 and 70 pays $2,480. By the end of age 80 the 62 claimer has received about $1,400 × 228 months = $319,200, while the 70 claimer has $2,480 × 132 = $327,360, so waiting has already caught up. The exact break-even is about age 80 and 4 months.
Benefit by claiming age (full retirement age 67)
Claiming age
% of full benefit
On a $2,000 full benefit
62
70%
$1,400
63
75%
$1,500
64
80%
$1,600
65
86.67%
$1,733
66
93.33%
$1,867
67
100%
$2,000
68
108%
$2,160
69
116%
$2,320
70
124%
$2,480
Things the break-even age leaves out
Spouses and survivors: a surviving spouse can keep the larger of the two checks, which makes delaying more valuable for the higher earner.
The earnings test: before full retirement age, benefits are withheld if your wages exceed the yearly limit.
Taxes and Medicare premiums reduce the net check for both choices.
Longevity risk: a bigger lifelong, inflation-adjusted check works like insurance against running out of savings.
It is the age at which the total benefits collected by claiming later catch up with the total from claiming earlier. Claiming at 62 gives smaller checks for more years; claiming at 70 gives larger checks for fewer years. If you live past the break-even age, the later claim pays more over your lifetime.
What is the break-even age for 62 vs 70?
With a full retirement age of 67, no COLA and no investment return, waiting until 70 catches up with claiming at 62 at about age 80 and 4 months. A 2.5% yearly COLA moves it to about 78 and a half, and investing the early checks moves it later. It does not depend on the benefit amount, only on the reduction and credit percentages, COLA and any return you assume.
How much is my benefit reduced at 62?
Benefits drop by 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. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early, a 30% reduction.
How much do I gain by waiting until 70?
For anyone born in 1943 or later, delayed retirement credits add 2/3 of 1% per month (8% a year) after full retirement age, up to age 70. With a full retirement age of 67 that is 24% more, so 124% of your full benefit.
Does COLA change the break-even age?
A little. Cost-of-living adjustments raise everyone's benefit by the same percentage each year, but because the later claimer gets more of their money in later, larger-COLA years, a higher COLA moves the break-even slightly earlier. An investment return on early benefits moves it later.
Should I just claim at the break-even age?
Break-even is only one input. Health and family longevity, other savings, whether you are still working (the earnings test can withhold benefits before full retirement age) and survivor benefits for a spouse all matter. Delaying often helps the higher earner in a married couple because the survivor keeps the larger check.
Where do I find my benefit at full retirement age?
Your Social Security statement, available in your my Social Security account at ssa.gov, lists estimated benefits at 62, full retirement age and 70. Enter the full retirement age amount here.
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