Should I take Social Security at 62 or 70?

The short answer: claim at 62 and the checks start sooner but stay smaller for life. Wait until 70 and they are as large as Social Security will ever pay you. The right age depends on your health, your spouse, your tax picture, and whether your portfolio can carry you through the years in between.

The basic trade-off

Your benefit is measured against your full retirement age (FRA), which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. Claim before then and the benefit is permanently reduced. Wait past it and you earn delayed retirement credits of roughly 8% a year, up to age 70.

So the spread between the earliest and latest claim is wide. For most people retiring today, waiting from 62 to 70 raises the monthly benefit by around three-quarters, every month, for the rest of their life.

When claiming early can make sense

You need the income now and have no other source to bridge the gap. Your health or family history points to a shorter horizon. Or you are the lower earner in a couple, claiming early while your spouse’s larger benefit keeps growing.

When waiting can make sense

You are in good health and longevity runs in the family, which makes delaying a rare thing: guaranteed, inflation-adjusted income you cannot outlive. You are the higher earner, so your benefit also sets the survivor benefit your spouse keeps after you are gone. Or you simply have enough invested to fund your 60s while the future benefit grows.

For higher-net-worth households

When you don’t need Social Security to pay the bills, claiming age becomes a tax question. The years between leaving work and age 70 are often the best window for Roth conversions, because your taxable income sits low before Social Security and RMDs stack on top. Delaying benefits keeps that window open longer, which can be worth more than the larger check by itself.