You definitely want your Social Security benefits to go as far as possible in retirement. And you can do this by laying the groundwork by earning as much as you can during your working years. However, choosing your claiming age strategically matters, too.
Your age at the time of signing up for benefits determines the size of your monthly checks and your lifetime benefit. The right time to apply depends on several factors, and there’s no best claiming age for everyone. That said, there’s one age that clearly results in the largest lifetime benefit for most people.
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Why your claiming age matters
You’ll become eligible for Social Security retirement benefits when you turn 62, and roughly a quarter of workers sign up then. The logic is easy to follow: The earlier you claim, the more checks you’ll get. But this doesn’t always translate to a larger lifetime benefit.
When calculating your checks, the Social Security Administration first figures out the amount of your primary insurance amount (PIA). This is the benefit you’ll qualify for if you sign up at your government-assigned full retirement age (FRA), which is 67 for most workers today.
If you claim before you’ve reached your FRA, you’ll shrink your checks. Specifically, you’ll lose 5/9 of 1% per month for up to 36 months. Then, you’ll lose 5/12 of 1% per month for every additional month of early claiming. Those who sign up before FRA can reduce their benefits by up to 30%.
On the other hand, you can delay Social Security beyond your FRA to gain an extra 2/3 of 1% per month until you turn 70, which is the age when you’ll qualify for your largest possible checks. If your FRA is 67, you can get 124% of your PIA per check by waiting until 70.
It’s clear which age grants you the largest possible checks, but figuring out the age that will give you the largest lifetime benefit is a little more complicated.
The right claiming age depends on your finances and lifestyle
There are two questions you have to ask yourself when determining when to sign up for Social Security to optimize your lifetime benefit. The first is whether you could afford to delay Social Security at all. If you’re not able to work and have little savings, the answer to that might be no. That’s OK. In this situation, claiming early is probably your best bet.
If delaying benefits beyond 62 is an option, then you have to consider your life expectancy. Those with shorter life expectancies usually get more money overall by claiming early, so signing up right away could be your best option if you have a serious health condition and don’t expect to live beyond your 70s.
For most people, though, delaying benefits until 70 will net them the largest lifetime benefit. A 2022 National Bureau of Economic Research study found that more than 90% of Americans would get the most money overall if they waited until 70 to apply for Social Security. But right now, only about 10% of seniors sign up then.
Some people simply can’t afford to wait that long. But if you think you could wait, it’s worth considering. You could also compromise and claim at your FRA if you don’t think you can delay until 70.
It doesn’t hurt to consider a few options before deciding on the right claiming age for you. Create a my Social Security account to access personalized benefit estimates at every possible claiming age. You can use this information to figure out how much of your monthly retirement expenses your checks might cover and how much you’ll need to save on your own.
