Waiting until your Social Security full retirement age (FRA) to start taking benefits can have a big financial payoff. Any delay in taking your Social Security benefits will increase your monthly check for the rest of your life. Your check will get a bump up for every month you don't collect benefits up to the age of 70.
Your Social Security full retirement age explained
If you wait until your full retirement age, you can collect 100% of your Social Security retirement benefit. Initially, when the Social Security Act was signed into law in 1935, that age was 65. However, a law passed in 1983 gradually increased the retirement age to 67.
You can take your benefits early — which will reduce your checks — or delay until past your full retirement age, netting you a bigger benefit. Despite the financial incentive of waiting, we explore some sound reasons to take Social Security early.
Calculate your Social Security full retirement age
Claiming early reduces benefits
Deciding when to apply for your Social Security has an impact on the retirement benefits you'll receive. You can claim it as early as 62 but you'll receive a smaller amount if you do. How much your benefits will be reduced depends on your age when you claim Social Security.
For example, let’s say you are eligible for 100% of your benefits at age 67, which is the full retirement age for anyone born in or after 1960:
- If you claim Social Security early at age 62, your benefit will be reduced by 30%
- If you claim early at age 63, your benefit will be reduced by 25%
- If you claim early at age 64, your benefit will be reduced by 20%
- If you claim early at age 65, your benefit will be reduced by 13.3%
- If you claim early at age 66, your benefit will be reduced by 6.7%
Under this example, if you were eligible for $1,000 a month at your full retirement age of 67 then the benefit would be reduced to $700 a month if you claimed at 62; $750 if you claimed at 63; and so on, according to the Social Security Administration. The reduction is calculated each month, not on a yearly basis, so every month you wait after age 62 will mean a slightly bigger Social Security check.
Waiting to claim increases benefits
You can also wait as late as age 70 to start collecting Social Security benefits. Doing so boosts your retirement benefits. After age 70, there's no benefit to waiting to claim Social Security.
Here’s how your benefit will increase if you wait to claim Social Security:
- If you delay claiming until age 68, your benefit will increase by 8%
- If you delay claiming until age 69, your benefit will increase by 16%
- If you delay claiming Social Security until age 70, your benefit will increase by 24%
Using this example, if you were eligible for a Social Security retirement benefit of $1,000 per month at your full retirement age of 67, the benefit would increase to $1,080 if you delay claiming until age 68; $1,160 if you delay to age 69; and $1,240 if you delay to age 70.
The age at which you start Social Security benefits may affect your spouse's benefits. You may have more flexibility if you are married since one spouse can start taking benefits while the other waits. So, if you are married, be sure to factor in your spouse's FRA and when they plan to start benefits.
Once again, the delayed retirement credits accrue monthly, not annually, so every month you wait beyond age 67 will net you a slightly bigger monthly check from Social Security. To see how this effect works in the real world, read more on the average Social Security check by age.
