Social Security Claiming Age Calculator
See how your monthly Social Security retirement benefit changes if you claim at any age from 62 to 70, and when waiting pays off.
Result
Monthly benefit at the age you claim: $1,400.00Estimate
Your own retirement benefit only. Spousal and survivor benefits, the earnings test and yearly cost-of-living increases are not included.
- Share of the full benefit
- 70%Estimate
- Full retirement age
- 67
- Compared with full retirement age
- 60 months early: 30.00% less
- Total benefits catch up with full retirement age at
- Age 78 and 8 months
| Claim at | Monthly benefit |
|---|---|
| 62 | $1,400.00 |
| 63 | $1,500.00 |
| 64 | $1,600.00 |
| 65 | $1,733.33 |
| 66 | $1,866.67 |
| 67 | $2,000.00 |
| 68 | $2,160.00 |
| 69 | $2,320.00 |
| 70 | $2,480.00 |
https://calcgallery.com/retirement-planning/social-security-claiming-age-calculator/
Results are arithmetic on the returns, rates and horizons you enter, not a forecast and not investment, tax or retirement advice. The site supplies no expected return, inflation rate, contribution limit, tax rate or withdrawal rate. Real returns vary from year to year, and fees, taxes and the order of returns all change the outcome. Check anything that matters with a qualified adviser. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Social Security Claiming Age Calculator
- Enter your date of birth. It sets your full retirement age.
- Enter your monthly benefit at full retirement age, the primary insurance amount on your my Social Security statement.
- Choose the age you are thinking of claiming at, in years and months, from 62 to 70.
- Read your monthly benefit at that age, the table for every age from 62 to 70, and the age at which waiting would have paid more in total.
How the benefit changes with age
Your benefit at full retirement age is your primary insurance amount, worked out by Social Security from your 35 highest years of earnings. Claiming at any other age scales it up or down by fixed monthly percentages set in regulation.
months early m: reduction = 5/9% × min(m, 36) + 5/12% × max(m − 36, 0)months late m: increase = 2/3% × m (stops at age 70)monthly benefit = primary insurance amount × (1 − reduction) or (1 + increase)The page applies these rules to the age you enter and to every whole year from 62 to 70, so you can see the whole range at once.
Where your primary insurance amount comes from
Sign in to my Social Security at ssa.gov to see the benefit estimate on your statement. The figure at full retirement age is the one to enter. If the statement shows only ages 62, full retirement age and 70, those match what this page shows for the same ages.
With your numbers
- Claiming early: 5/9 of 1% less for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age, 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond
- Claiming late: 2/3 of 1% more for each month after full retirement age, up to age 70
Quick reference
Your own retirement benefit only. Spousal and survivor benefits, the earnings test and yearly cost-of-living increases are not included.
| Example | Monthly benefit at the age you claim |
|---|---|
| Born 1962, claim at 62 | $1,400.00 |
| Born 1962, claim at 67 | $2,000.00 |
| Born 1962, claim at 70 | $2,480.00 |
| Born 1956, claim at 62 | $1,466.67 |
| Born 1958, claim at 66 and 6 months | $1,977.78 |
| Born 1 January 1960 | $1,888.89 |
Where the numbers come from
The fixed figures this calculator relies on, and the published source each one was checked against. How the calculators are built and checked
6 sources
20 CFR 404.410, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/404.410: "5/9 of 1 percent for each of the first 36 months"
Used for
- Worker benefit reduction for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age.
20 CFR 404.410: "5/12 of 1 percent for each month in excess of 36"
Used for
- Worker benefit reduction for each month beyond 36 before full retirement age.
20 CFR 404.313, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/404.313: "2/3 of 1%"
Used for
- Delayed retirement credit per month from full retirement age to 70, born after 1 January 1943.
20 CFR 404.409(a), https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/404.409
Used for
- Full retirement age, born 2 January 1943 to 1 January 1955: 66.
20 CFR 404.409(a)
Used for
- Full retirement age, born 2 January 1960 or later: 67.
20 CFR 404.409(a): 66 and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 months for 1955 to 1959
Used for
- Full retirement age rises by 2 months for each birth year 1955 to 1959.
Common questions about the Social Security Claiming Age Calculator
- How much less do I get if I claim at 62?
- With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early. The benefit falls by 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months, 20%, and by 5/12 of 1% for each of the other 24, 10%. That is 30% less, every month for life, apart from cost-of-living increases.
- How much more do I get if I wait until 70?
- Each month you wait after full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%, 8% a year, until age 70. With a full retirement age of 67 that is 36 months and 24% more. Waiting past 70 adds nothing.
- What is my full retirement age?
- 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954, rising by two months for each year of birth to 66 and 10 months for 1959, and 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. Someone born on 1 January is treated as born the year before, because Social Security counts you as reaching an age the day before your birthday.
- What does the break-even age mean?
- Claiming early gets smaller payments for longer; waiting gets larger payments for less time. The break-even age is when the total received by waiting until full retirement age catches up with the total from claiming at the age you chose, or when waiting beyond it catches up with claiming at it. It ignores cost-of-living increases and interest, and it is not advice about when to claim.
- What does this leave out?
- Spousal and survivor benefits, which follow different reduction rules. The earnings test, which holds back benefits if you claim before full retirement age and keep working. Cost-of-living adjustments. And the rounding Social Security applies to each payment.