Retirement income guide
When to claim Social Security
You can start Social Security at any age from 62 to 70, and the age you pick sets your monthly benefit for life. Here's how the numbers work and what to weigh.
By Dan Huslin, licensed insurance agent · Updated October 2026
How your benefit is figured
Social Security averages your 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for wage growth. If you worked fewer than 35 years, the missing years count as zeros, so a few more years of work can raise your benefit.
The result is your full benefit, which you receive at your full retirement age. For anyone born in 1960 or later, that's 67.
What you get at each age
Claim before full retirement age and your benefit is reduced permanently. Wait past it and you earn delayed retirement credits of 8% a year until 70. With a full retirement age of 67:
| Claim at | Share of full benefit | On a $2,000 full benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 70% | $1,400 |
| 63 | 75% | $1,500 |
| 64 | 80% | $1,600 |
| 65 | 86.7% | $1,733 |
| 66 | 93.3% | $1,867 |
| 67 | 100% | $2,000 |
| 68 | 108% | $2,160 |
| 69 | 116% | $2,320 |
| 70 | 124% | $2,480 |
Waiting from 62 to 70 raises the monthly check by about 77%. The trade-off is eight years without it.
If you're married
- Spousal benefit: you can receive up to half of your spouse's full benefit, if that's more than your own. It's reduced if you claim before your full retirement age, and it doesn't grow past it.
- Survivor benefit: when one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two benefits. That's why the higher earner's claiming age matters for both of you. Waiting until 70 can raise the income the survivor lives on.
Working while you collect
If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, Social Security withholds some benefits once your earnings pass an annual limit, which changes each year. Those benefits aren't lost: your monthly amount is recalculated upward at full retirement age. From full retirement age on, there's no limit.
Taxes on your benefit
Up to 85% of your Social Security can be taxable, depending on your combined income: your adjusted gross income, plus nontaxable interest, plus half your benefit.
- Single: up to 50% is taxable above $25,000 of combined income, and up to 85% above $34,000.
- Married filing jointly: up to 50% above $32,000, and up to 85% above $44,000.
Those thresholds aren't adjusted for inflation, so more retirees cross them every year. The retirement taxes guide covers ways to plan around them.
How to afford waiting
The math often favors waiting, but you still need income in the meantime. A common approach is to draw from savings, or from an annuity that pays for a set number of years, to cover the gap between retirement and your claiming age. Your later, larger Social Security check then lasts for life. Whether that works for you depends on your health, your savings and your spouse's benefits, which is what a Retirement Income Review looks at.
Check your own numbers at ssa.gov. This guide is general information, not tax advice.