Social Security Claiming Age: 62 vs. Full Retirement Age vs. 70

Your full retirement age

Full retirement age is when you can get 100% of your benefit, which SSA calls your primary insurance amount. It depends on your birth year:

If you were born on January 1, use the year before. SSA also treats people born on the 1st of any month as if their birthday were in the month before. Your my Social Security account gives your Social Security Statement and estimates at different starting ages.

Starting before full retirement age

SSA reduces your benefit for each month you start before FRA:

• 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months (about 6.7% a year), then
• 5/12 of 1% per month for each month beyond 36 (5% a year).

With an FRA of 67, starting at 62 is 60 months early: 36 × 5/9% = 20%, plus 24 × 5/12% = 10%. That's a 30% reduction, so the benefit is 70% of the full amount. SSA notes you must be at least 62 for the entire month to get benefits.

Waiting past full retirement age

For people born in 1943 or later, each month you wait past FRA adds a delayed retirement credit of 2/3 of 1%, or 8% a year. Credits stop at age 70, so there's no increase for waiting past 70. With an FRA of 67, starting at 70 pays 124% of the full benefit.

SSA notes that when you start before 70, credits earned in the year you start may not show up until the following January.

Benefit by starting age (FRA 67)

For anyone born in 1960 or later. The $2,000 column is an illustration, not an estimate of your benefit. Amounts are in today's dollars, before cost-of-living adjustments and Medicare premiums.

For your own birth date and benefit, try the Social Security claiming age calculator.

Spousal benefits

• A spouse can get up to 50% of the worker's full benefit (primary insurance amount), not 50% of what the worker actually receives.
• Starting a spousal benefit early reduces it by 25/36 of 1% per month for the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% per month after that. With an FRA of 67, starting at 62 gives 32.5% of the worker's full benefit.
• Spousal benefits don't earn delayed retirement credits, so they stop growing at the spouse's FRA.
• A spousal benefit is based on the worker's record once the worker has filed for retirement benefits. The spouse must be at least 62, or caring for a qualifying child (in which case the spousal benefit isn't reduced).
• If you also qualify for your own retirement benefit and it's higher than the spousal benefit, SSA pays your own benefit. SSA's calculators and your my Social Security account can show your figures.

Survivor benefits for widows and widowers follow different rules. See SSA for those.

Working while getting benefits

If you start benefits before FRA and keep working, the retirement earnings test can hold back some of your benefits:

SSA counts wages and net self-employment earnings, not pensions, investment income or interest. While you work, SSA also checks your record each year to see whether your new earnings raise your monthly benefit.

What changes the math

There's no single right age, and we don't suggest one. These are the facts that change the comparison:

• How long benefits are paid. Starting earlier means more checks at a lower amount. Starting later means fewer checks at a higher amount. The calculator shows the age where the totals cross (the break-even age).
• Earnings before FRA. The earnings test above can hold back benefits.
• A spouse. Spousal benefits are based on the worker's full benefit. Survivor benefits follow their own rules.
• Taxes. Other income, including IRA withdrawals and RMDs, affects how much of your benefit is taxable.
• Medicare. It's a separate decision. SSA says that if you delay benefits past 65, you still need to apply for Medicare within 3 months of your 65th birthday, or Part B and Part D coverage may cost more.

How benefits are taxed in CT and NC

Up to 85% of benefits can be federally taxable, depending on your other income. Connecticut exempts benefits below its income limits and taxes no more than 25% above them. North Carolina doesn't tax Social Security. Details and examples: Is Social Security taxable in CT and NC? Benefits rose by a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026.