See exactly how much claiming early or delaying changes your monthly benefit, month by month, against your full retirement age amount.
An estimate; SSA's own figures are authoritative.
Enter your full-retirement-age (FRA, age 67 for anyone born 1960 or later) benefit from your Social Security statement and a claiming age. The reduction for claiming early, and the credit for delaying, both accrue month by month rather than as a single round number, which is why 62 does not simply work out to "30 percent less" by coincidence, that figure is the result of the monthly formula below.
| Claiming age | Change vs FRA benefit |
|---|
Early reduction: 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before FRA, then 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that. Delayed credit: 2/3 of 1% per month (8% per year) from FRA up to age 70. Source: Social Security Administration.
This is a single-person estimate built entirely from the FRA figure you type in. It does not model spousal benefits, survivor benefits, the earnings test that can temporarily withhold benefits if you claim early while still working, or taxation of benefits at higher combined income levels. Couples in particular should treat this as a starting point, not a full claiming strategy.
Pairing Social Security with a pension or 401(k) drawdown? See the pension calculator and savings withdrawal calculator to build out the rest of the income picture.
Create or log in to a my Social Security account at ssa.gov to see your personalized estimate, based on your real earnings history. This calculator only adjusts whatever full-retirement-age figure you enter; it does not know your earnings record.
For anyone born in 1960 or later, yes, FRA is 67. For people born earlier, FRA is slightly lower, stepping down toward 65 for those born before 1938. This calculator assumes an FRA of 67, so if you were born before 1960, the early-claiming reduction percentages will not exactly match your real numbers.
The reduction is built month by month, not as a flat annual percentage: 5/9 of one percent per month for the first 36 months before FRA, then 5/12 of one percent per month beyond that. Claiming exactly 60 months early, from FRA 67 down to 62, works out to roughly a 30 percent permanent reduction using that formula.
No, delayed retirement credits stop accruing at age 70. There is no benefit to waiting past that point, and doing so only shortens the time you actually collect.
Yes, spousal and survivor benefit amounts can be tied to your claiming decision in ways this single-person calculator does not model. Couples weighing claiming strategy should run the numbers for both spouses together, ideally with SSA's own tools or a planner who specializes in Social Security timing.