Social Security and Medicare
When to claim Social Security
How your claiming age changes your benefit, how spousal and survivor benefits work, how the earnings test applies if you work, and how to compare claiming ages.
Education, not advice. This guide explains general rules with invented examples. It isn't financial, tax or legal advice for your situation. Tax figures are for 2026 and come from published IRS, SSA and CMS sources. Rules change, so check current figures before you act.
You can start Social Security retirement benefits at any age from 62 to 70. The age you choose changes your monthly check for life. It can also change what your spouse receives, both while you're alive and after you die.
This guide explains the rules, then works through an example.
Your full retirement age and your PIA
Your primary insurance amount (PIA) is the monthly benefit you'd get if you claim at your full retirement age. It's based on your 35 highest years of earnings, adjusted for wage growth. Your Social Security statement shows an estimate.
Your full retirement age depends on the year you were born. For anyone born in 1960 or later, it's 67. For people born from 1955 through 1959 it's between 66 and 67, rising two months a year.
How claiming age changes your benefit
Claiming before full retirement age reduces your benefit permanently. The reduction is 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months, 5/12 of 1% per additional month.
For someone whose full retirement age is 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early. The reduction is 20% for the first 36 months plus 10% for the next 24, or 30% in all.
Claiming after full retirement age earns delayed retirement credits of 8% a year, up to age 70. There's no benefit to waiting past 70.
Benefits also rise each year with cost-of-living adjustments. The adjustment for benefits paid in 2026 is 2.8%.
A worked example
Marisol was born in 1962, so her full retirement age is 67. Her PIA is $2,400 a month in today's dollars.
| Claiming age | Share of PIA | Monthly benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 70% | $1,680 |
| 67 | 100% | $2,400 |
| 70 | 124% | $2,976 |
Waiting from 62 to 70 raises her check by 77%, for life, with inflation adjustments on top.
The break-even age
If she claims at 62, she collects five extra years of smaller checks. When does the larger check catch up? In today's dollars, ignoring investment returns:
- Claiming at 67 overtakes claiming at 62 at about age 78 and 8 months.
- Claiming at 70 overtakes claiming at 67 at about age 82 and 6 months.
If Marisol lives past those ages, waiting pays more in total. Her health and family history are a better guide than averages.
Break-even ages are a useful check, but they leave out two things. Larger checks are insurance against a long life, which is when running short would hurt most. And for married couples, the larger check may continue after the first death.
Spousal benefits
A spouse can receive a benefit based on the other spouse's record. At full retirement age, the spousal benefit is up to 50% of the worker's PIA. If the spouse's own benefit is smaller, they get their own benefit plus enough extra to reach that amount.
Three rules matter:
- The worker must have filed. The spousal amount can't start until the worker claims their own benefit.
- Claiming early reduces it. The spousal part is reduced by 25/36 of 1% per month for the first 36 months, 5/12 of 1% per additional month.
- Waiting past full retirement age doesn't increase it. Delayed credits don't apply to spousal benefits.
Marisol's husband, Ray, was also born in 1962. His own PIA is $900. At full retirement age, his total would be $1,200: his own $900 plus $300 on Marisol's record. If he claimed at 62, after Marisol has filed, he'd get about $825: $630 of his own reduced benefit plus $195 of reduced spousal benefit.
Survivor benefits
When a spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two benefits, not both. If the higher earner delayed, the survivor inherits that larger check.
- A survivor at full retirement age receives the deceased's full benefit, including any delayed credits.
- A survivor can claim as early as 60, at a reduced rate starting at 71.5%.
- If the deceased claimed early, there's a floor: the survivor gets at least 82.5% of the deceased's PIA.
This is the strongest reason for the higher earner in a couple to consider delaying. If Marisol claims at 70 and dies first, Ray's check becomes $2,976 for the rest of his life, instead of $1,200 or less.
Working while claiming: the earnings test
If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, Social Security may withhold some benefits:
| Situation in 2026 | Earnings you can have before withholding | Withholding |
|---|---|---|
| Under full retirement age all year | $24,480 | $1 per $2 over the limit |
| The year you reach full retirement age | $65,160 | $1 per $3 over the limit, for months before full retirement age |
Suppose Ray claims at 63 and earns $40,000 in 2026. That's $15,520 over the limit, so about $7,760 of benefits would be withheld.
Withheld benefits aren't lost. At full retirement age, Social Security recalculates the benefit to give credit for the months it withheld. Only earnings from work count. Pensions, investment income and withdrawals don't.
The projection applies the earnings test to the pay in your plan, and it credits the withheld months at full retirement age. The Social Security explorer compares claiming ages without it, so check early claims while working in the projection.
Taxes on benefits
Up to 85% of your benefits can be subject to federal income tax. How much depends on your other income plus half your benefits. For a joint return, benefits start to become taxable above $32,000 of that measure. These thresholds aren't adjusted for inflation, so more retirees pay tax on benefits over time. Some states tax benefits too.
How to decide
- Get your record right. Check your earnings history on your Social Security statement. Missing years lower your PIA.
- Compare ages for both spouses together. The explorer shows every combination of claiming ages for a couple.
- Think about longevity, not averages. If one of you is likely to live long, delaying the larger benefit protects the survivor.
- Check the whole plan. Delaying means spending more savings early. The explorer can test a claiming choice against your full plan, including taxes and simulated markets.
Frequently asked questions
Should I claim early in case Social Security runs short?
That's a personal call. You can test a benefit cut in the app, as a percentage from a chosen year, and see how much it changes your plan.
Can I use the estimate on my Social Security statement?
Yes. You can enter your statement's benefit directly, or let the app estimate your benefit from your pay. The statement estimate assumes your pay stays level until you claim. The app can rework it with your plan's own earnings.
What if my spouse is much younger?
The survivor benefit matters more, because the survivor may live many years on one check. Compare claiming ages for both of you in the explorer, and look at the survivor's income in late life.