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Social Security Claiming Age Calculator
See what Social Security would pay you at each age from 62 to 70, your full retirement age, and how long you would need to live for waiting to pay off. Add your spouse to see spousal and survivor benefits. No sign-up needed.
Born on January 1? Use the previous year, as Social Security does.
The estimate for your full retirement age on your Social Security statement.
Totals count benefits until you turn this age. Velafolio’s planner assumes 90 unless you change it.
Your full retirement age
67
Claiming then pays your full benefit, $2,000 a month. At 62 it is $1,400; at 70, $2,480.
Most in total by 90
Claim at 70
$595,200 by the time you turn 90, $124,800 more than claiming at 62.
Your benefit at each claiming age
In today’s dollars. Benefits rise each January with the cost-of-living adjustment, so in today’s dollars they stay level for life.
| Claim at | Share of full benefit | A month | Total to 90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 70% | $1,400 | $470,400 |
| 63 | 75% | $1,500 | $486,000 |
| 64 | 80% | $1,600 | $499,200 |
| 65 | 86.7% | $1,733 | $519,900 |
| 66 | 93.3% | $1,866 | $537,408 |
| 67Full retirement age | 100% | $2,000 | $552,000 |
| 68 | 108% | $2,160 | $570,240 |
| 69 | 116% | $2,320 | $584,640 |
| 70Most by 90 | 124% | $2,480 | $595,200 |
Totals count every monthly payment from the claim age until you turn 90. Most people can start no earlier than 62 and 1 month, because you must be 62 for the whole month.
Break-even ages
The age by which waiting has paid you as much in total as claiming earlier. Live longer, and waiting comes out ahead.
| Waiting | Breaks even at |
|---|---|
| From 62 to 67 | 78 and 8 months |
| From 67 to 70 | 82 and 6 months |
| From 62 to 70 | 80 and 5 months |
Best claim age by how long you live
Nobody knows how long they will live, and the answer turns on it. For each age, the claim age that collects the most by then:
| If you live to | Most if you claim at | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 75 | 62 | $218,400 |
| 80 | 66 | $313,488 |
| 85 | 70 | $446,400 |
| 90 | 70 | $595,200 |
| 95 | 70 | $744,000 |
Arithmetic, not a recommendation. It leaves out taxes and investment returns. For a couple, it also leaves out the survivor benefit: when the higher earner claims later, the surviving spouse keeps a larger benefit.
Married couples
Benefits for your spouse
Your husband or wife can get a spousal benefit based on your record while you are both alive, and a survivor benefit if you die first. Both depend on your full benefit, and the survivor benefit also on when you claim.
The method
How the numbers are worked out
It starts from your full benefit, the amount your statement shows for full retirement age. Claiming early takes off 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age, and 5/12 of 1% for each month before that. Waiting adds 2/3 of 1% for each month after it, until 70. Social Security rounds monthly benefits down to the dollar.
Born in 1960, with $2,000 a month at full retirement age (67), claiming at 62 pays 70%, or $1,400 a month, and claiming at 70 pays 124%, or $2,480. Planning to 90, claiming at 70 collects the most:
- Monthly benefit at 70
- $2,480
- Months from 70 to 90
- × 240
- Total by 90
- $595,200
Claiming at 62 would collect $1,400 × 336 months = $470,400 by then. Waiting from 67 to 70 gives up 36 payments of $2,000 for $480 more a month, and catches up at 82 and 6 months: the break-even age.
Every amount is in today’s dollars. Benefits rise each January with the cost-of-living adjustment, so in today’s dollars a benefit stays level for life, and no inflation rate has to be assumed.
By year of birth
Full retirement age by year of birth
Your full retirement age sets how much claiming early costs and how much waiting adds.
| Born | Full retirement age | At 62 | At 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 66 | 75% | 132% |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 74.2% | 130.7% |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 73.3% | 129.3% |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 72.5% | 128% |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 71.7% | 126.7% |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 70.8% | 125.3% |
| 1960 or later | 67 | 70% | 124% |
At 62 and at 70: the benefit as a share of the full benefit. Born on January 1? Use the previous year. Survivor benefits follow a different schedule.
Work and taxes
Working while you collect, and taxes
The earnings test
If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, Social Security holds back benefits when your earnings pass a limit. In 2026 it withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above $24,480. In the year you reach full retirement age, it withholds $1 for every $3 above $65,160, counting only what you earn before that month. In 2027 the limits are $25,560 and $67,920.
Withheld benefits aren’t lost. Once you reach full retirement age, your monthly benefit is raised to make up for the months held back, and from then on there is no limit.
Taxes on your benefits
Up to 85% of your benefits can be taxable, depending on your other income. The Roth conversion tax calculator works out the taxable part for 2026, with or without a conversion.
Limits
What this calculator doesn’t cover
- The earnings test, if you claim early and keep working.
- Income tax on benefits, and Medicare premiums, which are usually taken out of them.
- The family maximum, which can reduce benefits when children or other relatives also claim on your record.
- Benefits for divorced spouses and children, and disability benefits.
- Exact months: most people can start no earlier than 62 and 1 month, and delayed credits earned in the year you claim are added the following January.
- Interest: totals are simple sums, with nothing added for what benefits collected early could earn.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is full retirement age?
- The age at which Social Security pays your full benefit, known as your primary insurance amount. It is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later and 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954. In between it rises by 2 months a year, from 66 and 2 months for 1955 to 66 and 10 months for 1959. If you were born on January 1, use the previous year.
- How much does claiming at 62 cut my benefit?
- For anyone born in 1960 or later, by 30%: claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full benefit. Social Security takes off 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age, and 5/12 of 1% for each month before that. You must be 62 for the whole month, so most people can start no earlier than 62 and 1 month.
- How much more do I get by waiting until 70?
- Each month you wait after full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%, or 8% a year, until 70. For anyone born in 1960 or later, claiming at 70 pays 124% of the full benefit, 77% more than claiming at 62. Waiting past 70 adds nothing.
- What is the break-even age, and is it the whole story?
- It is the age at which a later claim has paid as much in total as an earlier one. For anyone born in 1960 or later it comes at about 78 and 8 months for 62 against 67, and 82 and 6 months for 67 against 70. It isn’t the whole story. Nobody knows how long they will live, a larger benefit that rises with inflation matters most in a long life, when savings may be running low, and for a married couple the higher earner’s claim age also sets the survivor benefit for whichever spouse lives longer.
- How do spousal benefits work?
- A husband or wife can get up to half of the worker’s full benefit, paid in full at the spouse’s own full retirement age. Claimed at 62, it is 32.5% of the worker’s full benefit for a spouse born in 1960 or later, and waiting past full retirement age doesn’t raise it. It can’t start until the worker has filed. Social Security pays the spouse’s own benefit first and adds a spousal amount only if half of the worker’s full benefit is larger.
- How do survivor benefits work?
- Once a widow or widower reaches full retirement age for survivor benefits (66 to 67), they get the deceased spouse’s full benefit plus any delayed retirement credits the deceased had earned. If the deceased claimed early, it is the larger of what they were being paid and 82.5% of their full benefit. Survivor benefits can start as early as 60, at 71.5%. A survivor is paid this or their own retirement benefit, whichever is larger, not both.
- Do Social Security benefits keep up with inflation?
- Yes. Each January, benefits rise with the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which is based on consumer prices. They rose 2.8% in January 2026, and Social Security’s COLA table lists 3.6% for the increase paid from January 2027. That is why this calculator shows every amount in today’s dollars: in those terms, a benefit stays level for life.
See how Social Security fits into your whole retirement
Velafolio’s free planner compares claiming at 62, at full retirement age and at 70 for you and your spouse, alongside your savings, spending and taxes for every year of retirement.