When to Take Social Security: 62, Full Retirement Age, or 70

There is no single best age to take Social Security, but the math has a clear shape. Claiming at 62 cuts your benefit about 30 percent for life if your full retirement age is 67; waiting until 70 increases it 24 percent above your full benefit. The break-even point typically falls in your early 80s, so longer expected lifespans favor delay, and for married couples the higher earner delaying to 70 also locks in a larger survivor benefit. Health, cash needs, and taxes decide the rest.

What is your full retirement age?

Full retirement age (FRA) is the age at which you receive 100 percent of your earned benefit, called the primary insurance amount. Per the Social Security Administration, FRA is 66 and 10 months for people born in 1959 and 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. Anyone deciding today who has not yet reached FRA is, with few exceptions, in the age-67 group.

How much do you give up at 62, and gain at 70?

Claiming before FRA reduces the benefit by five-ninths of 1 percent for each of the first 36 months early and five-twelfths of 1 percent for each additional month. With an FRA of 67, claiming at 62 means receiving 70 percent of your full benefit, permanently. Claiming after FRA earns delayed retirement credits of two-thirds of 1 percent per month, 8 percent per year, through age 70. With an FRA of 67, a claim at 70 pays 124 percent of the full benefit.

The 2026 maximums illustrate the spread: the largest possible benefit for a worker claiming at 62 in 2026 is $2,969 per month, at full retirement age $4,152, and at 70 $5,181 (SSA, 2026). Cost-of-living adjustments, 2.8 percent for 2026, apply regardless of when you claim, so delay does not sacrifice inflation protection.

What does the break-even math look like?

Consider a hypothetical worker with a full benefit of $3,000 per month at FRA 67. Claiming at 62 pays about $2,100; claiming at 70 pays about $3,720, all in today's dollars since COLAs scale every path equally.

Claiming at 62 instead of 67 collects $126,000 over five years before the age-67 claimant receives anything. The age-67 claim then pays $900 more per month, recovering that head start in 140 months: break-even around age 78 and 8 months. Comparing 67 against 70, the delay forgoes $108,000 and recovers it at $720 per month, breaking even around age 82 and 6 months. Live past those ages and delay wins, increasingly so each year. For a healthy 62-year-old in an affluent household, planning horizons of 90 or beyond are reasonable, which is why delay is the default recommendation for the larger earner absent health or cash-flow reasons. Longevity insurance, not a wager, is the better frame: delay buys a larger inflation-adjusted income precisely in the scenario where money must last longest. This interacts directly with portfolio sufficiency, covered in how much do you need to retire.

What if you keep working? The earnings test

If you claim before FRA while still working, the retirement earnings test applies. In 2026, the Social Security Administration withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480 for those under FRA all year. In the calendar year you reach FRA, the threshold rises to $65,160 with $1 withheld per $3 above it, counting only months before FRA. From FRA onward there is no earnings test.

Withheld benefits are not truly lost; at FRA your benefit is recalculated to credit the withheld months. Still, the test makes claiming at 62 while earning a meaningful salary largely pointless for high earners, since most or all of the benefit may be withheld anyway.

How do survivor and spousal benefits change the decision?

When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two benefits, not both. The higher earner's claiming decision therefore sets the survivor's income for what may be decades. A higher earner who delays to 70 is buying a roughly 77 percent larger lifetime check for whichever spouse lives longer, compared with claiming at 62. This is the strongest single argument for delay in married couples, and it holds even if the higher earner's own health is poor, provided the spouse's longevity is good.

Spousal benefits run the other way: a spouse with little earnings history can receive up to 50 percent of the worker's full benefit at the spouse's own FRA, reduced to as little as 32.5 percent if claimed at 62. Spousal benefits earn no delayed credits past FRA, so there is no reason for a spousal-only claimant to wait beyond it. A common pattern is the lower earner claiming earlier for cash flow while the higher earner delays to 70.

How are benefits taxed in 2026?

Up to 85 percent of Social Security benefits are subject to federal income tax once combined income (adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest plus half of benefits) exceeds $34,000 single or $44,000 married filing jointly, thresholds set in 1993 and never indexed. Virtually every high-income retiree is at the 85 percent inclusion level.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act did not exempt benefits from tax. It added a temporary senior deduction of $6,000 per person age 65 or older for 2025 through 2028, phasing out at 6 percent of modified AGI above $75,000 single or $150,000 joint and disappearing entirely at $175,000 and $250,000 (IRS, 2025). Most high-income retirees will receive little or none of it. Two second-order effects matter more at higher incomes: taxable benefits add to the MAGI that drives Medicare IRMAA surcharges, covered in Medicare for high-income retirees, and the timing of your claim interacts with Roth conversion windows and withdrawal order, covered in tax-smart withdrawal sequencing. Delaying benefits to 70 often preserves low-income years in your 60s for conversions.

Key numbers (2026)

Sources: Social Security Administration 2026 fact sheet; IRS.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to take Social Security at 62 or 67?For most people in good health with other resources, waiting wins on expected value, and the case strengthens for married couples because of survivor benefits. Claiming at 62 makes sense with poor health, immediate cash needs, or a shorter family longevity picture.

Does delaying past 70 increase my benefit?No. Delayed retirement credits stop at 70. There is no reason to wait beyond that age.

Do I lose money permanently under the earnings test?Not exactly. Benefits withheld before FRA are credited back through a recalculation at FRA. But claiming early while working still locks in the early-claiming reduction on the rest.

Can my spouse claim on my record while I delay?No. Under current law a spousal benefit requires the worker to have filed. The old file-and-suspend strategy was eliminated in 2016.

Are Social Security benefits taxed in Wisconsin?No. Wisconsin does not tax Social Security benefits, although it does tax most other retirement income. Federal tax of up to 85 percent inclusion still applies.

Does claiming early reduce my survivor's benefit?If you are the higher earner, yes in effect: the survivor benefit is based on what you were receiving, including reductions for early claiming or credits for delay.