Social Security break-even calculator
Claim at 62 and the check is permanently smaller; wait until 70 and it is permanently larger. Three inputs — see where the lines cross and which claiming age wins for your life expectancy.
Your inputs
Your benefit at full retirement age (the SSA calls it your primary insurance amount) — it's on your Social Security statement at ssa.gov/myaccount. Enter the FRA figure, not an age-62 or age-70 estimate.
Born 1962 → your full retirement age is 67.
Live to 85 and delaying wins: claiming at 70 nets about $60,000 more than claiming at 62 — the larger check has had years to compound past the breakeven. Effectively a tie with claiming at 68, 69 — the gap is under 2%.
Your monthly check
All figures in today's dollars. The reduction and the delayed credits are permanent — the age you claim sets the check for life (COLA adjustments keep its purchasing power, not its size, growing).
Cumulative benefit by age
Total received by each age, in today's dollars. Where a later-claim line crosses an earlier one is the breakeven.
67 vs 62
Claiming at 67 overtakes claiming at 62 around age 79. Your life expectancy is past that crossing, so the later claim ends up ahead.
70 vs 62
Claiming at 70 overtakes claiming at 62 around age 80. Your life expectancy is past that crossing, so the later claim ends up ahead.
70 vs 67
Claiming at 70 overtakes claiming at 67 around age 83. Your life expectancy is past that crossing, so the later claim ends up ahead.
This compares one benefit in isolation.
Granary runs this against your actual plan — your real life expectancy, your spouse, your taxes. The claiming age that maximizes lifetime checks isn't always the one that maximizes what you keep, once the Social Security taxability ramp, Roth conversion windows, and a second household benefit enter the picture.
Get the full picture →How this calculator works
Your Social Security statement shows your benefit at full retirement age (FRA) — 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, 66 plus two months per year for birth years 1955–1959, and 66 for earlier cohorts. Claim before FRA and the SSA reduces the check by 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months early, plus 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that — claiming at 62 with an FRA of 67 means 70% of your full benefit, permanently. Wait past FRA and delayed retirement credits add 2/3 of 1% per month (8% per year) until they stop at 70 — 124% of the full benefit for the 1960-and-later cohort.
The break-even age is where the cumulative totals cross: before it, the earlier (smaller, longer-running) claim has collected more; after it, the later (larger) claim pulls ahead and never looks back. Everything here is in real, COLA-adjusted dollars— Social Security benefits rise with inflation each year, so in today's purchasing power the check is flat and no separate inflation adjustment belongs in the math.
What this calculator doesn't model
- Spousal and survivor benefits. This page models one person's own benefit. For married couples the calculus changes — the higher earner's claiming age sets the survivor benefit, which often argues for delaying even when the single-life breakeven says otherwise.
- Taxes. Up to 85% of benefits can be taxable depending on your other income, and the claiming age interacts with Roth conversion windows and IRMAA. The after-tax answer can differ from the gross one shown here.
- The earnings test. Claim before FRA while still working and benefits above an earnings threshold are withheld (then partially restored later).
- Investing the early checks. The comparison assumes benefits are spent, not invested. If early benefits would be saved at a real return, the breakeven moves later.
Longevity is the dominant unknown: live past the breakeven and delaying wins, die before it and claiming early did. Reduction and credit factors follow SSA rules as published for 2026. This is a planning comparison, not advice.