One of the most common retirement questions we hear is: “When should I take Social Security?”

My go-to response is, “Tell me when you’re going to die and I’ll give you the correct answer.” After they’ve (hopefully) laughed, I try to pivot the conversation to: “What claiming strategy makes the most sense for my situation?”

Here’s how to think about one of the most important retirement decisions you’ll make.

Key Takeaways

• There is no universal ‘best’ age to claim Social Security. The right decision depends on your health, financial resources, retirement goals, personal beliefs and family circumstances.
• Claiming at 62 provides income sooner but permanently reduces your monthly benefit. Waiting can result in significantly higher lifetime income.
• Delaying benefits until age 70 increases your monthly benefit, creating a larger guaranteed income source later in retirement.
• For married couples, claiming decisions affect both spouses. The higher earner’s benefit can play an important role in their spouse’s future benefits.
• Social Security shouldn’t be viewed in isolation. Your claiming strategy should coordinate with your tax planning, investment withdrawals and overall retirement income strategy.
• A good Social Security decision isn’t about maximizing benefits on paper. It’s about supporting the retirement lifestyle and goals that matter most to you.

The Three Common Starting Points

For most people, the decision centers around three milestones:

• Age 62, the earliest claiming age.
• Full Retirement Age (typically 66–67 depending on your birth year).
• Age 70, when benefits stop increasing.

Each choice involves trade-offs.

Claiming as Early as Possible

The biggest advantage of claiming at 62 is obvious: you start receiving income sooner.

For some retirees, that additional cash flow creates flexibility during the early years of retirement. Others may claim because of health concerns or concerns about longevity.

The tradeoff is that benefits are permanently reduced. For people whose full retirement age is 67, benefits can be roughly 30% lower when claimed at age 62. This reduction compounds over a lifetime and claiming early looks decreasingly optimal the longer you live.

Now, there is an argument that taking benefits early and investing them (rather than spending them) can upend the benefit of waiting. While there is certainly merit to this rationale, in reality, it is very rare to find someone who has discipline to execute this strategy.

Waiting Until Full Retirement Age

Full Retirement Age (FRA) is when you’re entitled to your full benefit amount, known in the business as the “Primary Insurance Amount” (PIA).

For people born in 1960 or later, FRA is age 67.

Claiming at FRA eliminates reductions in your benefit and often serves as a useful middle ground between taking benefits immediately and waiting until 70.

Delaying Until Age 70

One of the strongest arguments for waiting is the lifetime increase in monthly income that you lock in by delaying your benefits.

Each year past your FRA that you wait to take benefits you earn Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs), which increase your benefit by 8% each year until age 70, when your benefit maxes out. For the math junkies out there, that means you have the potential to increase your benefit by 24% by waiting until age 70.

For healthy retirees with long lifespans in their family history, delaying benefits can serve as a valuable form of longevity protection. In general, the breakeven for taking benefits later versus earlier is typically 10–12 years.

In many cases, Social Security is one of the few income sources that is guaranteed for life and adjusted over time through cost-of-living increases.

Factors That Matter More Than Age

The decision, however, often has less to do with age and more to do with circumstances.

Questions we consider with clients include:

• How Is Your Health? If your lifestyle and your genes point toward living until your mid-80s or beyond, delaying benefits makes sense. If significant health challenges exist, claiming earlier may be worth exploring.
• What Other Assets Do You Have? A retiree with substantial savings may have the flexibility to delay Social Security while living on other assets. Someone who needs the income immediately may reach a different conclusion.
• Are You Married? For couples, Social Security claiming decisions become even more important. The higher earner’s benefit often influences survivor benefits, making the decision to claim your benefit a household decision rather than an individual one. This is especially true if one spouse has significantly less work history than the other.
• Do You Plan to Keep Working? Individuals who claim before full retirement age while continuing to work may face temporary benefit reductions under Social Security’s earnings rules.

Avoid Treating It as a Standalone Decision

One of the biggest mistakes we see is evaluating Social Security in isolation.

The best claiming strategy should align with:

• Your retirement spending needs
• Tax planning opportunities
• Portfolio withdrawal strategy
• Longevity expectations
• Spousal considerations

A decision that looks optimal on paper may not be the best fit when viewed alongside the rest of your financial life.

Final Thoughts

Social Security is one of the most important retirement-income decisions you’ll make.

Rather than focusing solely on whether 62, 67, or 70 is “best,” focus on the tradeoffs between taking earlier or later, and whether that aligns with the other pieces to your personal financial puzzle.

The right claiming age isn’t the same for everyone. It’s the age that best supports the life you’re trying to build in retirement.

Related Reading:

Rethinking Retirement: Earlier, Later or Somewhere in Between and Retiring Before 60? What to Know About the Rule of 55 and 72(t) Distributions.