Social Security at 62 vs. 67 vs. 70: Which Age Should You Claim?

A side-by-side comparison, plus real SmartRetireCalc scenarios where different financial circumstances point to different answers.

There is no single best age to claim Social Security. Claiming at 62 gets you the smallest monthly check, paid over the most years. Waiting until 70 gets you the largest check, paid over the fewest years. 67 — Full Retirement Age (FRA) for anyone born in 1960 or later — sits in between, with no reduction and no bonus. Which one actually leaves you better off depends on your health and expected longevity, how much you've saved, what you plan to spend, whether you have other income, what your investments can earn, how the benefit is taxed, and — if you're married — how your decision affects your spouse's survivor benefit.

Age 62 vs. 67 vs. 70, At a Glance

Age	Status	% of FRA benefit	What it means
62	Earliest you can claim	70% (−30%, permanent)	Smallest monthly check, paid over the most years
67	Full Retirement Age (born 1960+)	100%	Your full earned benefit — no reduction, no bonus
70	Delayed credits stop accruing	124% (+24%, permanent)	Largest monthly check, paid over the fewest years

These percentages assume a Full Retirement Age of 67 — i.e., you were born in 1960 or later. If you were born in 1959 or earlier, your FRA is 66 years to 66 years and 10 months, and the exact percentages differ slightly. See the full birth-year FRA table and the age-by-age breakdown (63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69…) in the Social Security Guide.

Why 67, Not 65?

You'll sometimes see 65 mentioned alongside 62 and 70 — that mix-up is worth clearing up. 65 was the original Full Retirement Age when Social Security began, and it's still the age Medicare eligibility starts, which is probably why the two get conflated. But for retirement benefits, FRA has been 66 or higher since 2003, and it's been a flat 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later since the last step of the 1983 reform.

Claiming exactly at 65 today (for anyone born 1960+) still means a permanent reduction — about 86.7% of your FRA benefit, not the full amount. If your birth year puts your FRA at 66 or 66-and-some-months instead, claiming at 65 reduces it less. Either way, 65 is not a normal “full” claiming age under current rules.

What Happens at Each Age

62 Earliest claiming, permanent reduction

62 is the earliest you're allowed to claim your own retirement benefit. Your check is reduced by 30% from your FRA amount (assuming FRA 67), and the reduction is permanent — it doesn't catch up later, though it still gets annual cost-of-living adjustments from whatever reduced base you start at. In exchange, you collect a check for more years than either other option.

67 Full Retirement Age — your unreduced benefit

At 67 (FRA for anyone born 1960 or later) you receive exactly the benefit you earned — your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) — with no reduction and no bonus. It's also the age the SSA earnings test stops applying if you're still working: before FRA, earning above the annual limit can temporarily withhold part of your benefit.

70 Maximum benefit, delayed retirement credits

Every month you wait past FRA, up to 70, adds a delayed retirement credit worth 2/3 of 1% (8% per year). Waiting the full three years from 67 to 70 adds 24% to your monthly check, permanently. Credits stop accruing at 70 — there's no reason to wait past it.

It Depends on You

The math above is the same for everyone. The right answer for you depends on these factors:

Longevity

The longer you expect to live, the more total value delaying tends to produce. See the break-even analysis for the ages where each comparison flips.

Retirement savings

Delaying only helps if you can afford to live on something else in the meantime. If you plan to stop working before you claim, model the trade-off with the Social Security Bridge Calculator.

Spending needs

A larger guaranteed check reduces how much you need to withdraw from savings each year. Run your own numbers in the SS Claiming Calculator.

Other retirement income

A pension or other guaranteed income gives you more flexibility to delay Social Security. See claiming strategy considerations for more.

Investment returns

Delayed credits are a guaranteed, inflation-adjusted 8%/year return. Whether investing an early benefit instead can beat that consistently is a real question — see the break-even analysis.

Taxes

Up to 85% of your Social Security benefit can be taxable depending on your other income. See how Social Security is taxed.

Spouse & survivor benefits

For married couples, the higher earner's claiming age determines the survivor benefit for life. See spousal & survivor benefits.

Ability to fund the years before you claim

If you retire before you claim, someone has to pay the bills in between. The Social Security Bridge Calculator models exactly this.

See It With Real Numbers

A generic 62/67/70 table only goes so far. Below are two real, calculator-generated scenarios from SmartRetireCalc's own Social Security Bridge Calculator, constructed with the same key assumptions except for starting savings: a married 62-year-old born in 1962, with a $2,200/month FRA benefit, $60,000/year in spending, a 6% return assumption, 2.5% inflation/COLA, and a life expectancy of 90.

$860,000 in savings → Claim Early (62) wins

With $860,000 saved, Claim Early (62) comes out ahead in this scenario. Claiming at 62 provides $1,540/month and leaves a projected $1,097,777 in savings at age 90. Waiting until 67 raises the monthly benefit to $2,200 but leaves $986,413; waiting until 70 raises it to $2,728 but leaves $888,644. Under the calculator's total-lifetime-wealth comparison, claiming at 62 is the highest-ranked strategy for this household. See this scenario →

$250,000 in savings → Delay to 70 wins

With everything else unchanged except savings — $250,000 instead of $860,000 — the recommendation flips to Delay to 70. Claiming at 62 provides $1,540/month, and savings run out at age 68. Waiting to FRA (67) raises the benefit to $2,200/month, with savings running out even sooner, at 66. Delaying to 70 raises it further to $2,728/month — savings also run out at 66. Every strategy in this scenario ends with $0 in savings by age 90; delaying doesn't prevent that, and it isn't a “safer” plan by this measure. What it changes is the Social Security income available after savings are gone: delaying produces the larger monthly benefit in this model. Under the calculator's total-lifetime-wealth comparison, that's enough to make Delay to 70 the highest-ranked strategy for this household. See this scenario →

Strategy	$860,000 saved	$250,000 saved
Claim 62	$1,540/mo → $1,097,777 left at 90	$1,540/mo → $0 (depleted at 68)
FRA 67	$2,200/mo → $986,413 left at 90	$2,200/mo → $0 (depleted at 66)
Delay 70	$2,728/mo → $888,644 left at 90	$2,728/mo → $0 (depleted at 66)
Recommended	Claim at 62	Delay to 70

The key assumptions — age, FRA benefit, spending, marital status, return, inflation, and life expectancy — are the same in both scenarios, while starting savings are substantially different. That difference is enough to reverse the calculator's recommendation. That's the whole point of this page: you can't decide 62 vs. 67 vs. 70 from a benefit table alone.

Both scenarios use SmartRetireCalc's Social Security Bridge Calculator, a simplified model that doesn't yet account for Social Security's own taxation, IRMAA, RMDs, or survivor benefits — see the calculator for its full current limitations.

Married or Have a Spouse?

For married couples, the higher earner's claiming decision does double duty: it sets their own benefit and, if they die first, it becomes the survivor benefit their spouse lives on for the rest of their life. A common strategy is for the lower earner to claim earlier while the higher earner delays to 70. See the full spousal & survivor benefits section of the Social Security Guide.

Common Questions

What happens if I claim Social Security at 62?

Your monthly benefit is permanently reduced to about 70% of your FRA amount (assuming FRA 67). You'll still get annual COLA increases, but on the smaller base, and the reduction never goes away — even once you reach FRA.

Is 67 better than 62?

It produces more total lifetime income if you live past roughly your late 70s (see the break-even analysis). If you need the income sooner, expect a shorter lifespan, or have a large enough portfolio that the extra monthly amount doesn't matter, claiming at 62 can still be the right choice for you.

Is waiting until 70 worth it?

Often, if you can afford to fund the years before you claim and expect an average or longer lifespan — the 8%/year delayed credit is a guaranteed, inflation-adjusted return few investments reliably match. It's less clearly worth it if funding those years means drawing down savings that would otherwise keep compounding; run the actual trade-off in the Social Security Bridge Calculator.

What's the difference between retiring and claiming Social Security?

They're separate decisions. “Retiring” means you stop working; “claiming” means you start collecting your Social Security check. You can retire at 62 and not claim until 67 or 70 (see our Bridge Calculator), or keep working past FRA while already claiming. This page is about the claiming decision specifically — for the broader decision of when to stop working, see Retire at 62 vs. 67: The Complete Comparison.

If I retire at 62, can I wait until 67 (or 70) to claim Social Security?

Yes — retiring and claiming don't have to happen at the same time. You'll need to fund the “bridge” years from savings or other income until you start collecting. Model that gap directly in the Social Security Bridge Calculator.

Why is age 65 different from full retirement age?

65 was FRA decades ago and is still the age Medicare starts, but it hasn't been Social Security's FRA since the phase-in that started with people born in 1938. For anyone born 1960 or later, FRA is 67 — claiming at 65 still means a reduced benefit (about 86.7% of your FRA amount).

How does claiming age affect my monthly benefit?

Every month before FRA reduces your benefit; every month after FRA (up to 70) increases it. The reduction is steeper for the first 36 months before FRA (5/9 of 1%/month) than for months beyond that (5/12 of 1%/month); the delayed-credit increase is a flat 2/3 of 1% per month. See the full formulas in the methodology.

Run Your Own Numbers

Enter your own FRA benefit and life expectancy assumption to see exactly what claiming at each age means for you.

Open SS Claiming Calculator →Retiring before you claim? Bridge Calculator →

Last updated: August 2026. This page is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Social Security rules are complex and individual circumstances vary widely — see our full disclaimer, our methodology, or consult a financial advisor for personalized advice. For official rules and your personal benefit estimate, visit ssa.gov.