You can start drawing Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, but your monthly payment will be permanently reduced compared to what you’d receive if you waited. The amount you get depends entirely on when you claim relative to your full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Waiting beyond that, up to age 70, increases your benefit even further.
The Three Key Ages: 62, 67, and 70
Social Security gives you a wide window to start collecting, and each year you wait changes your monthly check for the rest of your life. Here’s how the three main ages break down:
- Age 62: The earliest you can claim retirement benefits. Your monthly payment will be about 30% less than it would be at full retirement age. That reduction is permanent.
- Age 67: Full retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later. This is when you receive 100% of the benefit you’ve earned based on your work history.
- Age 70: The latest age where waiting still increases your benefit. For each year you delay past 67, your payment grows by 8%. That adds up to 24% more than your full retirement amount if you wait all the way to 70.
There is no advantage to waiting past 70. Your benefit stops growing at that point.
How the Early Claiming Reduction Works
If you claim at 62, Social Security reduces your benefit by a small percentage for each month you’re short of full retirement age. For someone with a full retirement age of 67, that’s 60 months of reductions, which works out to roughly 30% less per month for the rest of your life.
The reduction isn’t all-or-nothing. You can claim at any point between 62 and 67, and the penalty shrinks as you get closer to full retirement age. Claiming at 63 means a smaller cut than claiming at 62. Claiming at 65 means a smaller cut still. The Social Security Administration calculates this on a month-by-month basis, so you don’t have to wait for a birthday to file.
This is a permanent adjustment. Some people assume their benefit will jump back up once they reach full retirement age, but it won’t. The reduction applies for as long as you collect benefits, including any cost-of-living increases you receive in future years.
How Delayed Credits Add Up
If you can afford to wait past 67, your benefit grows by two-thirds of 1% for every month you delay, which equals 8% per year. Someone whose full retirement benefit would be $2,000 a month at 67 would receive about $2,480 a month by waiting until 70.
These delayed retirement credits make the most sense if you’re in good health and have other income to live on in your late 60s. The breakeven point, where the larger checks make up for the years of missed payments, typically falls somewhere in your early 80s. If you live past that point, delaying comes out ahead financially.
Working While Drawing Benefits
You’re allowed to work and collect Social Security at the same time, but if you haven’t reached full retirement age, earning too much triggers a temporary reduction in your benefits. For 2026, here are the thresholds:
- Under full retirement age all year: Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above $24,480.
- The year you reach full retirement age: Social Security withholds $1 for every $3 you earn above $65,160, counting only earnings in the months before your birthday.
Only wages, self-employment income, bonuses, commissions, and vacation pay count toward these limits. Pensions, investment income, interest, veterans benefits, and other government retirement payments do not.
Once you reach full retirement age, the earnings test disappears completely. You can earn as much as you want without any benefit reduction. And the money that was withheld isn’t gone forever. Social Security recalculates your benefit at full retirement age and gives you credit for the months where payments were reduced, resulting in a slightly higher monthly check going forward.
Different Ages for Survivor Benefits
The age 62 rule applies specifically to retirement benefits based on your own work record. If you’re a surviving spouse, the rules are different. Widows and widowers can start collecting survivor benefits as early as age 60, or as early as age 50 if they have a disability. You must have been married for at least nine months before your spouse’s death and generally cannot have remarried before age 60 (or age 50 if disabled).
Survivor benefits claimed before your full retirement age are also reduced, but the earlier starting age gives surviving spouses more flexibility, especially if they need income immediately after a spouse’s death.
Choosing the Right Age to Claim
The “right” age depends on your health, your savings, and whether you need the income now. Claiming at 62 makes sense if you’ve stopped working and have no other way to cover expenses, or if you have reason to believe you won’t live well into your 80s. The monthly check is smaller, but you collect it for more years.
Waiting until 70 pays off most if you’re healthy, still earning income, and want the largest possible guaranteed monthly payment for the rest of your life. It’s also a form of longevity insurance: if you live into your 90s, those extra years of higher payments add up significantly.
Claiming at full retirement age, 67, is a middle path. You get your full earned benefit without any reduction, and you start collecting three years sooner than if you waited until 70. Many people land here because it feels like a natural balance between monthly income and total lifetime payments.
You can apply for benefits up to four months before you want payments to start. The Social Security Administration lets you apply online, by phone, or at a local office.