Claiming age
Last updated November 3, 2026
The tool ranks every Social Security claiming age from 62 to 70 against your plan. It uses the official cuts for claiming early and the credits for waiting.
Claiming early cuts your monthly benefit for life. Waiting past full retirement age raises it for life. We apply the official adjustment factors, not a rule of thumb, so the trade-off you see is the real one.
For one person, that's nine ages. For a couple, it's every combination of both ages, because the two choices affect each other. The survivor keeps the higher of the two benefits, so the higher earner's choice outlives them.
A survivor column shows what the surviving spouse would be left with under each combination.
We don't model spousal benefits. Each person's benefit comes from their own work record.