USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change.Age 62, 67 or 70? Here's the best time to claim Social Security.
- - USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change.Age 62, 67 or 70? Here's the best time to claim Social Security.
Medora Lee, USA TODAYOctober 5, 2025 at 4:01 AM
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Some older Americans, staring down potential Social Security benefit cuts, might look to access the program as soon as possible.
Experts say that could be a mistake.
Instead, potential beneficiaries should consider their health and life expectancy, what buckets of money they can pull from, if they're done working for good and what their marital status is, financial advisors told USA TODAY. Balancing those factors with how much you'll need each month will help retirees maximize their benefits over their lifetime, they said.
Making every dollar count is especially important when roughly 3 in 5 American workers say their retirement savings are behind where they should be, according to Bankrate's 2025 Retirement Savings Survey. More than one-third of American workers expect to need $1 million or more to retire comfortably. However, only half of workers think it's likely they can reach their retirement savings goal, the survey said.
"There are pros and cons to (claiming Social Security at) each age," said Mike Lynch, managing director applied insights at Hartford Funds. "It's firmly individually based."
Is it better to take Social Security at 62, 67 or 70?
Age 62 is the earliest someone can claim Social Security, while 67 years is considered the full-retirement age (FRA) for those born in 1960 or later. However, the monthly check is about 30% smaller if you claim at 62 years old instead of 67.
Additionally, the monthly benefit increases by 8% each year after age 67 until you reach 70.
On the face of it, it sounds like people should wait until at least 67, if not longer, to receive the biggest check possible, but that's not necessarily true, experts said.
"Life expectancy makes a huge difference," said Jaime Eckels, wealth management partner at Plante Moran. "The longer you wait, the longer you have to live to collect. It makes sense to start by looking at breakeven age."
Breakeven age is when the higher monthly payments from delaying benefits will equal the total payments you would have received by claiming earlier. You can create a profile at the Social Security Administration website to use its breakeven calculator.
Delaying benefits generally results in a higher total lifetime payout if you live beyond the breakeven age, but claiming early would be more financially advantageous if you don't live past that milestone.
Breakeven age is only a guideline, advisors said. There are many other factors to consider in deciding when to take Social Security, they warned.
How do I determine when I should take Social Security?
Older Americans need to consider the following, said Jung Seh, Financial Advisor at Bogart Wealth:
Income sources: Aside from Social Security, what other retirement funds can you tap to pay expenses and what are the tax implications of each?
Health status: Life expectancy when you're born is 78.4 years old, according to 2023 data from the Centers for Disease Control. In reality, many people live longer and may have 20+ years of retirement if they practice healthy lifestyle habits. Financial advisors call this lifespan, or longevity, and is calculated individually by providing some general health and family history information.
For example, if you're single, healthy, and come from family of longevity, consider taking Social Security earlier. "Even though you get credit for delaying, if you start early, you'll be collecting for longer years," she said. "That's more you're collecting and less you're drawing from your own retirement funds."
Marital status: Marriage requires strategizing. For instance, if both people are eligible but one earned more, collect the lower amount first to have some cash. Let the other grow as long as possible to maximize the benefit. If the spouse with the lower amount outlives the higher earner, the surviving spouse will receive the higher benefit.
If spouses are collecting, married at least a year and the same age, but one spouse's benefit is less than half the other's, then that spouse should claim spousal benefits instead. A spouse can claim up to 50% of the higher worker's benefit.
Work: Beware of the work penalty if you collect before FRA. If you earn more than the annual limit ($23,400 in 2025), benefits are reduced by $1 for every $2 earned over the threshold. In the year you reach FRA, $1 in benefits is deducted for every $3 you earn above a different limit ($62,160 in 2025) in the months before FRA. Once you reach FRA, deductions end.
Medicare: Social Security eligibility starts at 62 years, but Medicare begins at 65. That's a three-year gap that may require retirees to withdraw a much larger percentage of their portfolio to cover, leaving them open to greater risk if the market weakens significantly. Tapping into a portfolio as it is losing value means selling more investments to raise a set amount of cash. That'll drain savings more quickly and leave fewer assets to generate returns when the market recovers.
United States Social Security Administration logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationWhy are so many retirees filing for Social Security earlier?
Still, more retirees are filing as early as they can.
In 2023, the most popular age to claim was 66 years, making up 34.1% of the new claimants, Social Security Administration data showed. The next most popular age was 62 years old, with 23.2%, and age 65 rounded out the top three at 11.3%. All other ages were in single digits, SSA said.
Some reasons for claiming early include:
immediate income needed, especially to pay off debt or when facing financial emergencies
health issues
desire to stop working
to maximize household benefits if one spouse needs to stop working
fear the program will run out of money, which Eckels said probably won't happen. "There are always people working and paying into the system," she said. "There are a lot of things that could be done to fix the system."
The government can raise revenues by increasing the payroll tax that funds Social Security or the income threshold to continue paying the tax or raise the full retirement age.
"Rash decisions because of fear lead to bad outcomes," she said.
Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Many retirees take Social Security early, but is it wise? What to know
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