Social Security break-even calculator
Claim early and get smaller checks for longer, or wait and get bigger ones for fewer years. Here is the age at which waiting catches up, from your own benefit estimate.
Claiming at 70 instead of 62 catches up
at 80 and 5 months
At 62 you would get $1,400 a month (70% of your full benefit); at 70, $2,480 (124%). Live past 80 and 5 months and claiming at 70 has paid more in total; if you do not live to it, 62 has.
Your full retirement age is 67. Amounts are in today's money: the yearly cost-of-living raise keeps them level.
| Claim at | A month | Of full |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | $1,400 | 70% |
| 63 | $1,500 | 75% |
| 64 | $1,600 | 80% |
| 65 | $1,733 | 86.7% |
| 66 | $1,867 | 93.3% |
| 67 | $2,000 | 100% |
| 68 | $2,160 | 108% |
| 69 | $2,320 | 116% |
| 70 | $2,480 | 124% |
| Age | Claim at 62 | Claim at 70 |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | $134,400 | $0 |
| 75 | $218,400 | $148,800 |
| 80 | $302,400 | $297,600 |
| 85 | $386,400 | $446,400 |
| 90 | $470,400 | $595,200 |
| 95 | $554,400 | $744,000 |
| 100 | $638,400 | $892,800 |
Spousal and survivor benefits, the earnings test before full retirement age, and tax on benefits are not modeled; for a married couple the survivor benefit can change the answer. The link carries your figures after the #, so you can save or share it. Your figures are not sent to us.
How the claiming age changes the check
Your full benefit is what you get at your full retirement age, which is set by the year you were born. Claim before it and the check is cut by 5/9 of 1% a month for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% a month after that. Claim after it and it grows by 2/3 of 1% a month (8% a year) until 70.
On a $2,000 full benefit with a full retirement age of 67, that is $1,400 a month at 62 or $2,480 at 70, and the later claim catches up at 80 and 5 months. Waiting from 67 to 70 catches up at 82 and 6 months.
The break-even age is not the whole decision
A later claim is insurance against a long life: the bigger check keeps coming, adjusted for inflation, however long you live. An earlier claim puts money in your hands while you are sure to be there to spend it.
Waiting also means paying the years before the claim from savings. The how long will my money last calculator shows whether your savings can carry those years.
Questions people ask
- What is the Social Security break-even age?
- It is the age at which claiming later has paid you as much in total as claiming earlier. Before it, the earlier claim is ahead because its checks started sooner; after it, the later claim is ahead because each check is bigger. If you expect to live past the break-even age, waiting pays more over your life.
- How much smaller is my benefit at 62?
- Each month you claim before full retirement age cuts the benefit by 5/9 of 1% for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond that. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 means 60 months early, so the check is 70% of the full amount, for life.
- How much bigger is it at 70?
- Each month you wait past full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%, which is 8% a year, until 70. Nothing more is added after 70, so waiting longer only loses checks. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 70 pays 124% of the full amount.
- Does being married change the answer?
- Often, yes. When one spouse dies, the survivor can keep the larger of the two benefits, so the higher earner's claiming age affects the household for as long as either of you lives. This calculator compares one person's own benefit and does not model spousal or survivor benefits.
- What if I claim early and keep working?
- Before full retirement age, SSA withholds some benefits if your earnings are over a yearly limit, and pays them back later as a higher benefit. That earnings test is not modeled here.
Sources: 42 U.S.C. §416(l) (full retirement age), §402(q) (reduction for early claiming), §402(w) (delayed retirement credits); Social Security Administration, Retirement age and benefit reduction, and Delayed retirement credits.