How claiming age changes your check
For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. Claim at 62 and your benefit is permanently cut 30%; wait until 70 and delayed retirement credits add 8% per year, for 124% of your full benefit. On a $2,000 full-age benefit, that's the difference between $1,400 and $2,480 a month — a 77% larger check for waiting eight years, guaranteed and inflation-adjusted for life.
Reading the breakeven ages
Claiming early means more years of checks; claiming late means bigger checks. The totals cross at roughly age 78-79 for 62-vs-67 and age 80-81 for 62-vs-70. Average life expectancy for someone who reaches 62 is about 82 for men and 85 for women — past the typical breakevens — which is why delaying is mathematically favored for anyone in average or better health. Married couples add a wrinkle: the higher earner's benefit becomes the survivor benefit, so their delay protects the surviving spouse too.
Good reasons to claim early anyway
Breakeven math isn't everything. Claiming early can make sense if your health or family history points to a shorter life, you need the income now, or a spouse's strategy calls for it. One more trap: claiming before full retirement age while still working can temporarily withhold benefits above an earnings limit (about $24,000/year in 2026 — later repaid via a recalculation, but a cash-flow surprise).
How to use this calculator
Log in at ssa.gov and copy your estimated monthly benefit at full retirement age (67 for anyone born in 1960 or later), then enter it here. The calculator scales it to what you'd receive at 62, 67, and 70, tallies cumulative lifetime benefits at each age, and marks the crossover ages where waiting overtakes claiming early. Read the result against your own health and family longevity: if the people in your family routinely live into their late 80s and 90s, delaying is strongly favored; if not, or if you need the income now, claiming earlier can be the right call. For married couples, model the higher earner delaying, since that benefit becomes the survivor's for life.