When Should You Claim Social Security? 62 vs. 67 vs. 70

July 1, 2026 · 6 min read

Claiming Social Security is one of the biggest — and most permanent — money decisions you'll make in retirement. Claim at 62 and the checks start sooner but stay smaller for life. Wait until 70 and each check is far larger, guaranteed. There's no single right answer, but there is a right answer for you— and it's worth getting right, because for many households Social Security is the largest lifetime asset they own.

How your claiming age changes the check

Your benefit is built around your full retirement age(FRA) — 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claim exactly at 67 and you get 100% of your calculated benefit. Claim earlier or later and it's adjusted:

• Age 62 (the earliest) — about 70% of your full benefit, for life.
• Age 65 — about 87%.
• Age 67 (FRA) — 100%.
• Age 70 — about 124%. Waiting past FRA earns roughly 8% more per year.

There's no benefit to waiting beyond 70 — the credits stop — so 70 is the practical ceiling.

A simple example

Say your full benefit at 67 would be $2,000/month. Here's roughly what you'd get at each age, in today's dollars:

• Claim at 62 → about $1,400/month
• Claim at 67 → $2,000/month
• Claim at 70 → about $2,480/month

That's a $1,080/month difference for life between claiming at 62 and 70 — over $12,000 a year, adjusted for inflation every year after.

The case for claiming early (62)

• You need the income now, or claiming lets you avoid selling investments while they're still growing.
• You have health concerns or a family history of shorter lifespans.
• You'd simply rather have the money in hand and under your control.

The case for waiting (70)

• A guaranteed ~8% a year. Almost nothing else offers a risk-free, inflation-adjusted return like delaying Social Security.
• Longevity insurance. A bigger check protects you most in the scenario you can least afford — living a long time and outliving your savings.
• Survivor benefits. If you're the higher earner, that larger benefit can carry over to your spouse after you're gone.

It really does depend on you

A few things tip the decision:

• Health and family history. Expecting a long retirement usually favors waiting; the opposite favors claiming earlier.
• Do you need the money? If you can comfortably cover expenses without it, delaying is easier — and more valuable.
• Still working? Claim before FRA while earning above the annual limit and part of your benefit is temporarily withheld.
• Married? Couples can coordinate — often the lower earner claims earlier while the higher earner delays to maximize the survivor benefit.

How to actually decide

Rules of thumb only get you so far, because the right age depends on your whole plan — your other income, your spending, your savings, and how long the money needs to last. The clearest way to decide is to see how each claiming age changes your run-out date and ending balance, side by side.

That's exactly what Retirement Forecast does: enter your plan once, and its Social Security helper shows your benefit and your outcome at 62, 65, 67, and 70 — so you can choose the age that fits your life, not a generic chart.

This article is general education, not financial, investment, or tax advice. Projections are estimates that depend on your inputs and assumptions; consult a qualified professional about your own situation.