Recommended Free Tools
Waiting five years to claim Social Security can raise your monthly retirement benefit, but the increase depends on which ages you are comparing. For someone born in 1960 or later, claiming at 67 rather than 62 avoids the maximum 30% early-claiming reduction. Claiming at 70 instead of 67 raises the monthly benefit to 124% of the full-retirement-age amount. These are different comparisons: the 8% annual delayed-retirement credit applies only after full retirement age, not to every year you wait from 62.
What a five-year delay means for your benefit
For people born in 1960 or later, Social Security full retirement age is 67. Claiming at 62 gives a reduced benefit; waiting until 67 gives the full-retirement-age amount. The Social Security Administration (SSA) says the maximum reduction for claiming at 62 when full retirement age is 67 is 30%. Therefore, if your full-retirement-age benefit is $1,000, the age-62 benefit would be about $700 under that percentage comparison. The age-67 amount is about 42.9% higher than the age-62 amount, calculated as 100 divided by 70, minus 1. This is a comparison of monthly benefit levels, not a prediction of which choice will provide more total income over a lifetime.
Delaying beyond full retirement age is a separate calculation. For people born in 1943 or later, SSA awards delayed retirement credits at 8% per year, accrued monthly, for each month after full retirement age. Credits stop at age 70. For someone born in 1960 or later, age 70 is three years after full retirement age, and the SSA chart sets the age-70 benefit at 124% of the full-retirement-age benefit.
How the claiming ages compare
| Claiming age | Benefit level for a person born in 1960 or later | What the comparison means |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 70% of the full-retirement-age amount | Maximum 30% reduction when full retirement age is 67, according to SSA. |
| 67 | 100% of the full-retirement-age amount | Full retirement age for people born in 1960 or later. |
| 70 | 124% of the full-retirement-age amount | Three years of delayed credits after age 67; credits stop accruing at 70. |
The percentages above describe benefit amounts, not how many checks you receive or the total amount collected over time. Waiting means going longer without your own retirement benefit payments. The SSA figures do not establish a break-even age or determine which claiming age yields more cumulative income for an individual.
#1 Best Overall
Estimate your own benefit at each age
The percentages do not tell you the dollar amount you will receive. SSA calculates retirement benefits using your earnings record, including your highest 35 years of earnings, and the age you start benefits. Use your own SSA estimates rather than applying a general percentage to someone else’s benefit.
- Open SSA’s Plan for Retirement page and access your personal estimates.
- Compare the estimated monthly amounts at several claiming ages, including the ages you are actually considering.
- Check that your earnings record reflects your work history. If you have fewer than 35 years of earnings, years without earnings can reduce the calculation.
- Compare the amount you would receive each month with the payments you would forgo by starting later. Consider how you would cover expenses during the delay.
SSA’s 2025 Annual Statistical Supplement provides a worked example: a worker with a $1,671 primary insurance amount who claims at 62 in 2025 receives $1,169 per month after the reduction and rounding. That illustration is specific to the stated amount and year; it is not a forecast for another worker.
Separate the decision to stop working from the decision to claim
You do not have to treat retirement from work and starting Social Security as the same decision. Your benefit depends on the age you claim and your covered earnings history. If you stop working before you have 35 years of earnings, the benefit calculation may include years with no earnings; continuing to work can replace lower or zero-earnings years in the record. Review how your own earnings history affects the SSA estimate before assuming that delaying a claim alone will produce a particular dollar increase.
Account for household and Medicare timing
Claiming timing can affect more than your own monthly retirement check. SSA advises considering whether family members may qualify for benefits based on your record, since some people claim earlier so eligible family members can apply sooner. It also recommends considering Medicare enrollment at age 65 even if you delay retirement benefits. These household and coverage considerations can matter when comparing claim ages, so include them alongside your personal estimates rather than relying on the monthly percentage alone.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
What the numbers do—and do not—tell you
- Age 62 to 67: For people born in 1960 or later, this moves from 70% to 100% of the full-retirement-age amount by avoiding the early-claiming reduction.
- Age 67 to 70: For that same birth cohort, delayed credits raise the monthly amount to 124% of the full-retirement-age amount.
- A different birth year: Full retirement age and the relevant age-based percentages can differ. Check the SSA information for your birth year instead of assuming that age 67 is full retirement age for everyone.
- Total lifetime income: A larger monthly benefit after a delay does not by itself show that delaying produces more total payments. That comparison depends on when payments begin and on individual circumstances.
SSA does not identify one universally optimal claiming age; its guidance is to decide based on what works for you. For the official rules and estimates, see the 2025 Annual Statistical Supplement, Appendix C, SSA’s delayed-retirement information for people born in 1960, and its pages on claiming before full retirement age and benefits, work, and earnings history.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
