When Should You Claim Social Security at 62, 67, or 70? Data Reveals the Answer

For most Americans, making the right choice about when to claim social security represents one of the most consequential financial decisions of retirement. The stakes are real—depending on which age you choose, you could receive significantly more or substantially less income throughout your retirement years. Yet despite this importance, most retirees claim at age 62 without fully understanding the long-term consequences. Recent comprehensive research has shed light on which claiming strategy actually leads to the highest lifetime payouts, and the findings may surprise you.

Social security remains the financial backbone for the vast majority of retirees. According to Gallup polling data spanning over two decades, between 80% and 90% of current retirees depend on their social security income to make ends meet, while 76% to 88% of future retirees expect to rely on these benefits as a critical income source. Getting the most from social security isn’t optional—for most people, it’s an absolute requirement for maintaining their standard of living in retirement.

Why Your Social Security Claim Age Matters More Than You Think

Understanding how the Social Security Administration calculates your benefit is essential to grasping why claim timing is so pivotal. Four fundamental factors determine your monthly payment: your work history, your earnings history, your full retirement age, and the age at which you decide to start collecting.

The SSA bases your benefit on your 35 highest-earning years (adjusted for inflation). This means higher lifetime earnings generally result in a larger monthly check, while those with fewer than 35 years of work history face penalties—the agency averages in $0 for each year of eligible work history you’re missing.

Your full retirement age (also called your normal retirement age) depends entirely on your birth year and is the only factor completely outside your control. This is the age at which you become eligible to receive 100% of your earned benefit. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 70.

How Your Claiming Age Affects Your Lifetime Income

The claiming age is the single most powerful lever you control in the social security equation. While you can begin collecting as early as age 62, there’s a substantial financial reward for waiting.

For each year you delay your claim between ages 62 and 70, your monthly benefit grows by approximately 8%. This compounds significantly. Someone waiting from age 62 until age 70 could receive as much as 24% to 32% more per month (depending on birth year) compared to claiming at full retirement age. The trade-off, of course, is that you must wait eight years to access this higher income stream.

This dynamic creates three natural claiming windows that retirees typically consider:

Claiming at 62: You receive your benefit immediately without waiting. However, early claiming triggers permanent reductions—typically 25% to 30% of your full retirement age benefit, depending on when you were born. You may also face benefit withholding through the Social Security earnings test if you continue working. The appeal of claiming early becomes especially tempting when considering that 2024 Social Security projections suggest benefits could be cut by up to 21% across the board by 2033 if Congress doesn’t act.

Claiming at your full retirement age (typically 67): At this point, your benefit is not reduced. You receive your full earned benefit with no penalties. However, if you live well into your 80s or beyond, the decision to stop waiting may result in leaving significant lifetime income on the table compared to what you could have received by waiting longer.

Claiming at 70: This strategy delivers the highest monthly check you’ll ever receive—anywhere from 24% to 32% more than your full retirement age benefit. The obvious risk is longevity; there’s no guarantee you’ll live long enough to recover the years of benefits you skipped (ages 62 through 69), let alone achieve a higher lifetime total payout.

The Numbers Don’t Lie: What Researchers Found About Social Security Claims

So which age actually wins? A major research initiative five years ago provided a definitive statistical answer. In 2019, researchers at United Income analyzed data from the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study, examining the claiming patterns of 20,000 retired workers. Their findings were striking.

Only 4% of the retired workers studied had actually optimized their lifetime social security benefit—a surprisingly low percentage that reflects how difficult this decision is. Since none of us knows our “expiration date” in advance, there’s inherent guesswork involved in any claiming decision. Additionally, everyone’s situation is unique: financial needs, health status, marital circumstances, and tax implications all vary.

However, the most revealing finding was how dramatically actual claiming behavior diverged from optimal behavior. Among the actual claims analyzed, 79% occurred at age 62, 63, or 64. Yet only 8% of optimal claims would have occurred during this early window. Conversely, while just a tiny percentage of actual retirees claimed at age 70, a remarkable 57% of optimal claims would have occurred at that age. Age 67 (full retirement age) came in second as the optimal claiming age, but it accounted for only about 10% of optimal claims—a distant runner-up to age 70’s dominance.

The implication is clear: statistically, claiming at age 70 dramatically outperforms the early-claiming strategy that most Americans currently pursue.

62, 67, or 70: Which Age Actually Wins for Most People?

To be absolutely clear, this statistical analysis doesn’t mean every single person should wait until age 70. Individual circumstances vary enormously. A lower-earning spouse seeking to generate household income while their partner’s benefit grows could benefit from earlier claiming. Someone with a serious chronic illness and reduced life expectancy might optimize their situation through an earlier claim. The data doesn’t capture these nuances.

What the research does demonstrate unambiguously, however, is a clear statistical advantage associated with patience. For the majority of people in good health who expect to rely heavily on social security, waiting until age 70 presents the highest probability of maximizing their lifetime payouts.

Making Your Own Social Security Decision

If social security is going to be a significant part of your retirement income—which is true for roughly four in five retirees—understanding your claiming strategy matters tremendously. The gap between claiming at 62 versus waiting until 70 could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.

Consider these questions as you evaluate your own situation: How dependent will you be on social security income? What does your family history suggest about longevity? Do you have other reliable income sources while waiting? What is your current health status? Would continuing to work while delaying benefits be feasible?

The answer to “when should you claim social security at 62, 67, or 70?” isn’t universal. But statistically speaking, if you’re in reasonable health and can afford to wait, the data strongly suggests that patience pays off. For most Americans, that means taking a serious look at claiming at age 70, even though it requires discipline to resist the immediate gratification of claiming at 62.