Social Security claiming calculator: 62, full retirement age or 70
Two numbers from your my Social Security statement, and you'll see what each claiming age pays every month, in total by 80, 85 and 90, and where waiting starts to pay off.
Enter your birth year and the monthly benefit at full retirement age from your my Social Security statement. The calculator applies Social Security's rules: about 30% less at 62 when your full retirement age is 67, and 8% more for each year you wait past full retirement age until 70. It shows the monthly amount at each age, the running totals at 80, 85 and 90, and the age at which waiting starts to pay more in total. It's an estimate on your own record only; it isn't Social Security's official estimator.
Try your own numbers
62, full retirement age or 70: what each pays, monthly and in total
Enter the benefit at full retirement age from your my Social Security statement. The tool applies SSA's early-claiming reduction and delayed-retirement credits; the totals and break-even ages follow from that.
| Start at | Monthly | vs full age | Total by 80 | By 85 | By 90 |
|---|
Uses SSA's reduction and credit rates (5/9 of 1% per month for the 36 months before full retirement age, 5/12 of 1% per month before that; 2/3 of 1% per month after it, to 70). Ignores cost-of-living increases, taxes, the earnings limit if you keep working, and spousal or survivor rules, any of which can change the answer. An estimate, not advice and not an official figure; official estimates are at ssa.gov. I'm not affiliated with the Social Security Administration.
How the calculator works
- Full retirement age comes from your birth year: 66 for 1943 to 1954, rising two months a year to 67 for 1960 and later.
- Claiming early cuts the benefit 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: about 30% less at 62 when full retirement age is 67.
- Waiting adds 2/3 of 1% for each month after full retirement age, 8% a year, until 70. There is nothing to gain by waiting past 70.
- The totals add up the monthly checks from each starting age to 80, 85 and 90, without cost-of-living increases, so the comparison stays like for like.
When break-even isn't the whole answer
Break-even is one lens. For a married couple, the larger of the two checks continues to the surviving spouse, so the higher earner waiting can protect the survivor for decades. Working before full retirement age can hold back part of an early benefit. A pension, savings and taxes change the picture too. Full retirement age: claim at 62, 67 or 70? and spousal and survivor benefits cover those pieces, and my Social Security claiming help puts them together with your own statement, at no fee.
- Retirement benefits: starting your retirement benefits early (SSA) — full retirement age by birth year; reduction of 5/9 of 1% a month for 36 months, 5/12 of 1% beyond
- Delayed retirement credits (SSA) — 2/3 of 1% a month (8% a year) after full retirement age, until 70
- my Social Security account (SSA) — your official benefit estimates
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Common questions
Short answers to what people ask before they call.
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Is this Social Security's own calculator?
No. It's my tool, built on Social Security's published rules for early and delayed claiming. Your official estimates are in your my Social Security account at ssa.gov/myaccount, and that's where the number you enter here comes from.
Which number do I enter?
Your estimated monthly benefit at full retirement age, from your my Social Security statement. Social Security calls it your primary insurance amount.
What does the calculator leave out?
Cost-of-living increases, income taxes on benefits, the earnings test if you claim early while working, and spousal or survivor benefits. For a married couple, the higher earner's claiming age also sets the survivor's check, which often matters more than break-even.
What is the break-even age?
The age at which the larger checks from waiting have added up to more, in total, than the smaller checks you'd have collected by starting earlier. If you expect to live past it, waiting pays more over your lifetime.
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