When to claim Social Security, and why the break-even age is the wrong question

You can claim Social Security as early as 62. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67, and claiming at 62 pays about 70% of the full benefit for life. Waiting past full retirement age adds 8% a year until 70.

The break-even trap

Many people compare the total paid by claiming early with the total paid by waiting and find a break-even age around 80. The comparison is not wrong, but it answers a narrow question. It treats Social Security like an investment, when its real job is insurance against living a long time.

Couples have two lives to plan for

When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two benefits. That makes the higher earner’s claiming age a decision about the survivor’s income, possibly for decades. In many of our plans the higher earner waits to 70 and the other spouse claims earlier.

What claiming early can still make sense for

Poor health, a shorter family history, or no other savings to live on can all make an earlier claim reasonable. So can a younger spouse’s own benefit. We run the options against your actual statements from ssa.gov rather than rules of thumb.

Bring your statements

Create an account at ssa.gov and download your benefit statement before the first meeting. It shows your earnings record, which is worth checking for missing years, and the estimates we use in the plan.