When Should You Claim Social Security?

One of the most consequential decisions you'll make in retirement is when to begin claiming Social Security benefits. You can start as early as age 62, wait until your full retirement age (FRA) — currently 67 for those born after 1960 — or delay all the way to age 70. Each year you wait past your FRA, your benefit grows by approximately 8%.

If you claim at 62, your benefit is permanently reduced by up to 30% compared to your FRA amount. On the other hand, delaying to 70 can increase your monthly check by 24% or more above your FRA benefit. Over a long retirement, that difference compounds significantly.

The right answer depends on several personal factors: your health and life expectancy, whether you're still working, your other income sources, and whether you're married. A spouse's claiming strategy can also affect survivor benefits, making coordination essential.

For married couples, a common strategy is for the higher earner to delay as long as possible — ideally to 70 — to maximize the survivor benefit. The lower earner may claim earlier to provide income while the higher earner's benefit continues to grow.

Break-even analysis is a useful starting point: if you delay from 62 to 67, you forgo five years of payments but receive a higher monthly amount thereafter. The break-even point is typically around age 78–80. If you expect to live well past that, delaying often makes mathematical sense.

Social Security planning doesn't exist in isolation. It intersects with Medicare enrollment, Roth conversion windows, and required minimum distributions. A coordinated strategy that accounts for all of these moving parts can meaningfully improve your retirement income picture.