Your monthly benefit at each age from 62 to 70 and the break-even age between two choices
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 7 Oct 2026.For anyone born in 1964 the full retirement age is 67: claiming Social Security at 62 and 1 month cuts a $2,000 benefit to $1,408.33 a month (70.42%), and waiting to 70 raises it to $2,480 (124%). Both choices pay the same total by age 80 and 5 months, under SSA's 5/9%, 5/12% and 2/3% monthly rules.
Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 7 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Enter your "Date of birth" and your "Monthly benefit at full retirement age" from your SSA statement, or choose "Estimate from my earnings" if you do not have one.
Set "First choice: age" and "Second choice: age", with "and months" for each if needed.
Set "Compare totals up to age" to how long you plan for.
Read the monthly benefit at each choice and the "Break-even age", then open "Every age, 62 to 70" for all ages.
Press "Share result" to copy a link with these inputs.
Social Security retirement benefits can start at any month from 62 to 70. Claim before your full retirement age and the monthly amount is cut for life; claim after it and delayed retirement credits raise it. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full benefit and waiting until 70 pays 124%.
Start from your own number, or estimate it. The benefit at full retirement age, the primary insurance amount, comes from your 35 highest years of indexed earnings. Your statement at ssa.gov/myaccount shows it. Without one, choose Estimate from my earnings: the calculator indexes each year with SSA's average wage index, averages the best 35 and applies the 2026 formula (90% of the first $1,286 a month, 32% up to $7,749, 15% above). It reproduces SSA's own worked examples to the cent, but it is an estimate, not your record.
The rules applied. Full retirement age is 66 for people born from 1943 to 1954, rises by two months a year for 1955 to 1959, and is 67 from 1960. Born on 1 January, use the year before. Each month early costs 5/9 of 1% for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% after that; each month late adds 2/3 of 1%, until 70. SSA counts you as reaching an age the day before your birthday and pays a month only if you are 62 throughout it, so most people can start at 62 and 1 month at the earliest.
Break-even. Waiting means larger checks but fewer of them. The break-even age is when the running total of the later claim catches up with the earlier one: about 80 and a half for 70 against 62 and 1 month, when full retirement age is 67. Cost-of-living increases raise both by the same percentage, so the break-even age holds in today's dollars. Live beyond it and waiting paid more.
What this calculator does not include: spousal and survivor benefits, which often make delaying worth more for the higher earner of a couple; the earnings test, which withholds benefits if you work before full retirement age; income tax on benefits; Medicare premiums taken from the payment; and investment returns on money received early. SSA rounds each amount down, so its figure can be a few cents lower. An estimate, not advice.
With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at exactly 62 pays 70% of your full benefit: 36 months at 5/9 of 1% and 24 months at 5/12 of 1% add up to a 30% cut. With a full retirement age of 66, the cut is 25%. The reduction is permanent and stays after you reach full retirement age.
Delayed retirement credits add 2/3 of 1% for every month after full retirement age, 8% a year, for anyone born in 1943 or later. With a full retirement age of 67, waiting to 70 adds 24%, so a $2,000 benefit becomes $2,480 a month. Credits stop at 70, so waiting longer gains nothing.
Full retirement age is 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954, 66 and 2 months for 1955, rising two months a year to 66 and 10 months for 1959, and 67 for 1960 or later. Anyone born on 1 January uses the previous year, because Social Security treats an age as reached the day before a birthday.
The break-even age is when the total received from claiming later catches up with the total from claiming earlier. For someone with a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 70 rather than at 62 and 1 month breaks even at about 80 and a half. Living past that age makes waiting the better deal in lifetime dollars.
Social Security pays a month only if you are 62 for the whole month, and it counts an age as reached the day before your birthday. Anyone born on the 1st or 2nd of a month is 62 throughout the birthday month and can start then; everyone else starts the month after, at 62 and 1 month.
Choose Estimate from my earnings and enter a salary or your yearly earnings. Each year is capped at that year's taxable maximum, indexed to the average wage at age 60, and the highest 35 are averaged and run through the 2026 formula. Log in to my Social Security at ssa.gov/myaccount for the figure on your actual record.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
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