For many people approaching retirement, one of the biggest financial decisions they will make sounds deceptively simple:
When should I start taking Social Security?
You can begin retirement benefits as early as age 62. You can wait until your Full Retirement Age. Or you can delay benefits as late as age 70.
So which one is right?
There isn’t one answer that works for everyone.
The decision should be based on much more than your birthday. Your health, life expectancy, other retirement income, marital status, taxes—and especially whether you plan to continue working—can all influence the answer.
Before you file for Social Security simply because you’ve reached a certain age, it’s worth understanding what you’re actually choosing.
First, Understand the Three Important Ages
For most people approaching retirement today, there are three ages to understand:
Age 62 — Earliest Claiming Age
You can begin Social Security retirement benefits at 62, but starting early means accepting a permanently reduced monthly benefit.
For someone born in 1960 or later, Full Retirement Age is 67. Starting at 62 can reduce the retirement benefit by as much as 30% compared with waiting until age 67.
Age 67 — Full Retirement Age
For anyone born in 1960 or later, Full Retirement Age, commonly called FRA, is 67.
At FRA, you are eligible for 100% of your calculated retirement benefit.
Age 70 — Maximum Delayed Retirement Benefit
If you wait beyond Full Retirement Age, Social Security provides delayed retirement credits.
For people born in 1943 or later, those credits increase retirement benefits by approximately 8% per year until age 70. There is no additional increase for delaying beyond age 70.
For someone with an FRA of 67, that means waiting until 70 results in a retirement benefit equal to approximately 124% of the Full Retirement Age amount.
Here’s What That Could Look Like
Suppose your Social Security benefit at age 67 would be $3,000 per month.
Your approximate monthly benefit could look like this:
| Starting Age | Approximate Monthly Benefit |
|---|---|
| 62 | $2,100 |
| 67 | $3,000 |
| 70 | $3,720 |
That’s a difference of $1,620 per month between starting at 62 and starting at 70.
And because Social Security is designed to provide income for the rest of your life, that difference can become increasingly important if you live into your 80s or 90s.
But that still doesn’t automatically mean everyone should wait until 70.
The Question People Sometimes Forget: Are You Still Working?
This is where the Social Security decision becomes especially important.
You can collect Social Security and continue working.
However, if you claim benefits before reaching Full Retirement Age, Social Security’s earnings test may temporarily withhold some or even all of your benefits if your earnings exceed certain limits.
For 2026, if you are under Full Retirement Age for the entire year:
- You can earn up to $24,480 before the earnings test applies.
- Above that amount, Social Security generally withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 you earn over the limit.
During the year in which you reach Full Retirement Age, a much higher limit applies. In 2026, that amount is $65,160, and Social Security generally withholds $1 for every $3 earned above the limit. Only earnings before the month you reach Full Retirement Age count toward that limit.
Beginning with the month you reach Full Retirement Age, there is no earnings limit at all.
That distinction can dramatically change the claiming decision for someone who plans to continue working.
Consider Someone Who Is 64 and Still Earning $60,000
Suppose you’re 64, earning $60,000 per year and considering starting Social Security.
Using the 2026 earnings limit:
$60,000 earnings
– $24,480 earnings limit
= $35,520 over the limit
Social Security could withhold approximately:
$35,520 ÷ 2 = $17,760
That’s a significant amount.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t file, but it does mean you should understand the consequences before doing so.
There’s also an important point that is frequently misunderstood:
Benefits withheld because of the earnings test aren’t simply gone forever.
When you reach Full Retirement Age, Social Security recalculates your benefit to give you credit for months in which benefits were withheld because of excess earnings.
That’s very different from saying Social Security simply takes the money away.
What Counts as Earnings?
Here’s another important distinction.
For the Social Security earnings test, the government generally counts:
- Wages from a job
- Net earnings from self-employment
- Bonuses
- Commissions
- Vacation pay
But it generally does not count things such as:
- Investment income
- Interest
- Pensions
- Annuities
- Veterans benefits
- Other government or military retirement benefits
The earnings test is primarily about earned income from working, not how much total money you have coming into the household.
Working Can Also Increase Your Social Security Benefit
Continuing to work isn’t necessarily a negative.
Social Security calculates your retirement benefit using your highest 35 years of earnings.
If you continue working and your current earnings replace a lower-earning year—or a year with zero earnings—your future Social Security benefit could actually increase. Social Security reviews earnings records and can recalculate benefits when a new year becomes one of your highest earning years.
For someone earning a strong salary later in their career, this is another reason to look at the entire picture rather than simply asking, “When am I eligible?”
What About Taxes?
Working while receiving Social Security can create another issue: income taxes.
Social Security retirement benefits aren’t necessarily tax-free.
The IRS uses a calculation involving one-half of your Social Security benefits plus other income, including wages, pensions, investment income and tax-exempt interest.
Depending on your income and filing status, up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can potentially be included in taxable income.
That does not mean you pay an 85% tax rate on Social Security.
It means that as much as 85% of the benefit could be included as taxable income and then taxed at your applicable federal income-tax rate.
For someone who is still earning a substantial salary, this tax consideration deserves to be part of the Social Security decision.
So Why Would Someone Take Social Security at 62?
There are plenty of legitimate reasons.
Someone might choose to start early because:
- They need the income.
- They’ve stopped working.
- Their health is poor.
- Their family has a history of shorter life expectancy.
- They want to preserve other retirement assets.
- Their overall retirement strategy makes early claiming advantageous.
The goal isn’t necessarily to get the largest monthly check.
The goal should be to make the decision that best supports your overall retirement plan.
Why Would Someone Wait Until 70?
The opposite can also make sense.
Someone may choose to delay because:
- They’re still working and don’t need the income.
- They have sufficient savings or other income.
- They’re in good health and expect a long retirement.
- They want to maximize guaranteed lifetime income later in life.
- They’re the higher earner in a married couple and want to consider the potential survivor benefit.
That last point is particularly important.
For married couples, Social Security shouldn’t always be viewed as two independent decisions. Delaying the higher earner’s retirement benefit can potentially provide a larger benefit for a surviving spouse later.
Sometimes the question isn’t simply:
“How much Social Security can I collect?”
It’s:
“How can we create the best lifetime income strategy for both of us?”
What Is the Break-Even Age?
People frequently ask this question.
Let’s return to our hypothetical person whose Full Retirement Age benefit is $3,000.
Starting at 62 provides approximately $2,100 per month.
Waiting until 67 provides $3,000.
By waiting five years, you give up approximately $126,000 of payments you could have received between 62 and 67.
In return, you receive approximately $900 more each month afterward.
Using simple math and ignoring taxes, investment returns and other considerations, the break-even point would be somewhere around age 79.
Waiting from 67 until 70 presents a similar calculation.
You give up approximately $108,000 of benefits during those three years but increase the monthly benefit from approximately $3,000 to $3,720.
The simple break-even point is roughly age 82½.
If you live well beyond those ages, delaying becomes increasingly attractive from a lifetime-benefit standpoint.
If you don’t, claiming earlier may have produced more cumulative benefits.
But break-even analysis shouldn’t be the only factor. Taxes, investment returns, other assets, health, inflation, survivor benefits and the value you place on having income today can all change the equation.
There Is Another Age You Shouldn’t Forget: 65
Even if you decide to delay Social Security, don’t forget about Medicare.
Social Security specifically cautions people who delay retirement benefits to pay attention to Medicare enrollment at age 65 because delaying Medicare in certain circumstances can result in penalties or delayed coverage. Different rules may apply when you or your spouse have qualifying employer coverage.
Social Security and Medicare are connected, but deciding to delay one doesn’t mean you should automatically delay the other.
Five Questions to Ask Before Filing for Social Security
Before deciding when to start benefits, ask yourself:
1. Do I plan to continue working?
If so, how much do I expect to earn before Full Retirement Age?
2. Do I actually need Social Security today?
Or can my current income and assets comfortably support me while I allow my benefit to grow?
3. How is my health and longevity outlook?
No one knows how long they will live, but health and family history are reasonable factors to consider.
4. How will Social Security interact with my taxes and other retirement income?
Look at Social Security together with wages, pensions, IRA withdrawals, 401(k) distributions and investment income.
5. If I’m married, how does my decision affect my spouse?
A good claiming strategy should consider both spouses and the financial consequences after the death of either spouse.
Don’t Make a Permanent Decision Based on One Number
One of the biggest mistakes in retirement planning is looking at a Social Security statement, seeing the amount available at 62 and saying:
“That’s my money. Why wouldn’t I take it?”
Maybe you should.
But maybe you shouldn’t.
Social Security isn’t simply a pot of money waiting to be collected. It is an important component of your lifetime retirement-income strategy.
For someone who stops working at 62, the right answer may be very different from someone earning $100,000, $150,000 or $250,000 per year into their mid-60s.
Likewise, the right answer for someone with significant retirement savings may be different from someone who will depend heavily on Social Security to cover basic living expenses.
The Bottom Line
The question isn’t:
“What is the best age to take Social Security?”
A better question is:
“What is the best age for me to take Social Security based on the rest of my financial life?”
Before filing, consider your age, employment income, taxes, savings, health, spouse, other retirement income and the lifestyle you want in retirement.
Then run the numbers under several scenarios:
What happens if I start at 62?
What happens if I wait until Full Retirement Age?
What happens if I wait until 70?
The difference can represent tens—or even hundreds—of thousands of dollars over a long retirement.
You’ve spent decades earning your Social Security benefit.
Take a little time to make sure you’re making an informed decision about when to turn it on.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as individualized tax, legal, investment or Social Security advice. Social Security rules and annual earnings limits can change. Before making a claiming decision, review your personal benefit estimate with the Social Security Administration and consider how the decision fits into your overall retirement plan.
2026 Social Security figures used in this article are based on information published by the U.S. Social Security Administration.