See an educational estimate of your monthly benefit, and how claiming at 62, full retirement age or 70 compares.
Monthly benefit at 67
$2,578
Educational estimate — confirm at ssa.gov.
Your PIA — the baseline benefit.
Per month vs your chosen age.
| Claim age | Monthly | Annual | % of full |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 (earliest) | $1,804 | $21,653 | 70% |
| 67 (full) | $2,578 | $30,933 | 100% |
| 70 (maximum) | $3,196 | $38,357 | 124% |
This is an educational estimate, not an official figure. Based on $70,000 of average annual earnings, your full-retirement-age benefit works out to roughly $2,578 a month, and claiming at 67 adjusts it to about $2,578. Your actual benefit depends on your full 35-year earnings history — get your real number from your 2025 statement at ssa.gov.
Claiming at 62 locks in roughly $1,804 a month permanently, while waiting until 70 raises it to about $3,196 — the benefit grows by 5–8% for each year you delay past 62. Delaying is effectively buying a bigger inflation-protected lifetime income, which is especially valuable if you're in good health or are the higher earner in a couple.
The reduction for claiming early isn't temporary — it applies for life. Filing at 62 gives roughly 70% of your full benefit, every month, forever. It can still be the right call if you need the income, have a shorter life expectancy, or want to preserve other assets — but it's a permanent trade, not a bridge.
Delaying trades smaller checks now for larger checks later. The crossover — where total lifetime benefits from waiting overtake those from claiming early — typically lands in the late 70s to early 80s. If you expect to live past then, or want the longevity insurance of a larger guaranteed income, waiting wins; if not, claiming earlier can make sense. Marital status matters too, since a surviving spouse can inherit the larger benefit.
For most people, Social Security replaces only about 40% of pre-retirement income — the rest has to come from savings. Run your full retirement plan to see how this benefit combines with your 401(k) and other savings to cover your spending.
Full retirement calculatorWorked scenarios with the full analysis, so you can see how the numbers move before entering your own.
A mid-career worker with a full retirement age of 67, claiming exactly at full age for the unreduced benefit.
Monthly benefit at 67
$2,578
This is an educational estimate, not an official figure. Based on $70,000 of average annual earnings, your full-retirement-age benefit works out to roughly $2,578 a month, and claiming at 67 adjusts it to about $2,578. Your actual benefit depends on your full 35-year earnings history — get your real number from your 2025 statement at ssa.gov.
Claiming at 62 locks in roughly $1,804 a month permanently, while waiting until 70 raises it to about $3,196 — the benefit grows by 5–8% for each year you delay past 62. Delaying is effectively buying a bigger inflation-protected lifetime income, which is especially valuable if you're in good health or are the higher earner in a couple.
The reduction for claiming early isn't temporary — it applies for life. Filing at 62 gives roughly 70% of your full benefit, every month, forever. It can still be the right call if you need the income, have a shorter life expectancy, or want to preserve other assets — but it's a permanent trade, not a bridge.
Filing at the earliest age, showing the permanent reduction against the full-age benefit.
Monthly benefit at 62
$1,804
This is an educational estimate, not an official figure. Based on $70,000 of average annual earnings, your full-retirement-age benefit works out to roughly $2,578 a month, and claiming at 62 adjusts it to about $1,804. Your actual benefit depends on your full 35-year earnings history — get your real number from your 2025 statement at ssa.gov.
Claiming at 62 locks in roughly $1,804 a month permanently, while waiting until 70 raises it to about $3,196 — the benefit grows by 5–8% for each year you delay past 62. Delaying is effectively buying a bigger inflation-protected lifetime income, which is especially valuable if you're in good health or are the higher earner in a couple.
The reduction for claiming early isn't temporary — it applies for life. Filing at 62 gives roughly 70% of your full benefit, every month, forever. It can still be the right call if you need the income, have a shorter life expectancy, or want to preserve other assets — but it's a permanent trade, not a bridge.
Waiting until 70 to capture the maximum delayed retirement credits.
Monthly benefit at 70
$3,196
This is an educational estimate, not an official figure. Based on $70,000 of average annual earnings, your full-retirement-age benefit works out to roughly $2,578 a month, and claiming at 70 adjusts it to about $3,196. Your actual benefit depends on your full 35-year earnings history — get your real number from your 2025 statement at ssa.gov.
Claiming at 62 locks in roughly $1,804 a month permanently, while waiting until 70 raises it to about $3,196 — the benefit grows by 5–8% for each year you delay past 62. Delaying is effectively buying a bigger inflation-protected lifetime income, which is especially valuable if you're in good health or are the higher earner in a couple.
The reduction for claiming early isn't temporary — it applies for life. Filing at 62 gives roughly 70% of your full benefit, every month, forever. It can still be the right call if you need the income, have a shorter life expectancy, or want to preserve other assets — but it's a permanent trade, not a bridge.
A worker at the taxable maximum with a full retirement age of 67, illustrating how the benefit formula caps high earnings.
Monthly benefit at 67
$4,169
This is an educational estimate, not an official figure. Based on $176,100 of average annual earnings, your full-retirement-age benefit works out to roughly $4,169 a month, and claiming at 67 adjusts it to about $4,169. Your actual benefit depends on your full 35-year earnings history — get your real number from your 2025 statement at ssa.gov.
Claiming at 62 locks in roughly $2,918 a month permanently, while waiting until 70 raises it to about $5,169 — the benefit grows by 5–8% for each year you delay past 62. Delaying is effectively buying a bigger inflation-protected lifetime income, which is especially valuable if you're in good health or are the higher earner in a couple.
The reduction for claiming early isn't temporary — it applies for life. Filing at 62 gives roughly 70% of your full benefit, every month, forever. It can still be the right call if you need the income, have a shorter life expectancy, or want to preserve other assets — but it's a permanent trade, not a bridge.
Your benefit is based on your highest 35 years of earnings, adjusted for wage inflation. Those earnings are averaged into a monthly figure (AIME), and a progressive formula with two 'bend points' converts it into your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) — the benefit you'd receive at full retirement age. The formula replaces 90% of the first slice of average earnings, 32% of the next, and only 15% above that, so it deliberately favors lower earners.
This calculator approximates that process from a single average-earnings figure, which is why it's an estimate rather than an exact number. Your real benefit reflects your specific 35-year record. The Social Security Administration publishes your actual projected benefit in your online statement at ssa.gov — always use that for real planning.
You can start benefits any time between 62 and 70, and the age you choose permanently changes the amount. Claiming before full retirement age reduces the benefit — by as much as 30% at 62 — while delaying past full age earns delayed retirement credits worth about 8% per year up to 70. The difference between the earliest and latest benefit is often more than 75%.
There's no universally right answer. Delaying gives a larger, inflation-protected income for life, which is powerful longevity insurance and matters most for the higher earner in a couple, since a survivor inherits the larger benefit. Claiming early makes sense if you need the income, have health concerns, or want to preserve other assets. The break-even age for delaying usually falls in the late 70s to early 80s.
Social Security is designed to replace only part of your income — roughly 40% for an average earner, less for higher earners because of the formula's structure. It's a foundation, not a full retirement plan, and the gap between it and your spending has to come from personal savings like a 401(k) or IRA.
Benefits can also be taxable: depending on your combined income, up to 85% of your Social Security benefit may be subject to federal income tax. That interaction with withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts is worth modeling, because the order in which you draw down different accounts in retirement can meaningfully change your lifetime tax bill.
Filing at the earliest age permanently locks in the smallest benefit. Unless you need the income or have health concerns, waiting even a few years raises the check for life.
A surviving spouse inherits the larger of the two benefits. For couples, the higher earner delaying protects the survivor's income for decades.
It replaces only about 40% of income for an average earner. Relying on it alone leaves a large spending gap that personal savings must fill.
Up to 85% of benefits may be federally taxable depending on combined income, which surprises many retirees and affects withdrawal planning.
This tool approximates; only your ssa.gov statement reflects your real earnings record. Confirm there before choosing a claiming age.
It depends on your highest 35 years of earnings and the age you claim. This calculator gives an educational estimate from your average earnings and birth year. For an average earner, benefits replace roughly 40% of pre-retirement income. Your authoritative projected benefit is in your online statement at ssa.gov, which uses your actual earnings record.
Waiting increases your monthly benefit permanently — about 5–8% for each year you delay past 62, up to age 70. Delaying is valuable if you expect to live into your 80s or beyond, or you're the higher earner in a couple. Claiming at 62 can make sense if you need the income, have health concerns, or want to preserve other savings. The break-even age is typically late 70s to early 80s.
It depends on your birth year. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. For those born 1955–1959 it rises in two-month steps from 66, and for 1943–1954 it's 66. Claiming before full retirement age reduces your benefit; claiming after increases it.
Substantially. Between your full retirement age and 70, you earn delayed retirement credits of about 8% per year. Combined with the reduction for early claiming, the benefit at 70 can be more than 75% higher than the benefit at 62 — a larger, inflation-adjusted income for the rest of your life.
It can be. Depending on your combined income (adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest plus half your benefits), up to 85% of your Social Security benefit may be subject to federal income tax. Some states tax benefits too, though most don't. This interaction makes the order you withdraw from other accounts in retirement worth planning.
No. This is an educational estimate that approximates the benefit formula from a single average-earnings figure. The Social Security Administration calculates your real benefit from your complete 35-year earnings record. Always use your official statement at ssa.gov for actual retirement planning decisions.
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