Deciding when to start taking Social Security is one of the most important choices you may make as you approach retirement. You can generally begin receiving retirement benefits as early as age 62, but starting early typically means accepting a lower monthly benefit. Waiting until your full retirement age can provide your full scheduled benefit, while delaying beyond full retirement age can increase your monthly payment up to age 70.
That may make waiting sound like the obvious choice—but retirement planning is rarely that simple.
Your income needs, savings, employment plans, spouse’s benefits, taxes, health considerations, Medicare coverage, and broader investment strategy can all affect the decision. The right claiming age is therefore less about finding a universal “best age” and more about determining how Social Security fits into your overall retirement income plan.
Working with a financial advisor for retirement planning can help you evaluate Social Security alongside your investments, taxes, healthcare expenses, and long-term financial goals.
Understanding Your Social Security Claiming Options
Before deciding when to claim, it helps to understand the three major milestones.
Age 62: Earliest Claiming Age
For most people, 62 is the earliest age at which Social Security retirement benefits can begin.
However, claiming before your full retirement age permanently reduces your monthly retirement benefit. For someone whose full retirement age is 67, claiming at 62 can result in a benefit approximately 30% lower than the amount available at full retirement age.
Starting early may still make sense in some circumstances, particularly when someone needs retirement income sooner or has other financial considerations that make waiting less practical.
The important point is to understand the long-term impact before making the election.
Full Retirement Age
Your full retirement age (FRA) is the age at which you become eligible for your unreduced Social Security retirement benefit.
FRA depends on the year you were born. For people born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is currently 67.
Reaching full retirement age also matters if you plan to continue working while receiving Social Security because the retirement earnings test no longer applies beginning with the month you reach FRA.
Age 70: Maximum Delayed Retirement Benefit
You aren’t required to start Social Security when you reach full retirement age.
If you delay claiming after FRA, Social Security provides delayed retirement credits that increase your monthly benefit. These increases continue until age 70. There is generally no additional retirement-benefit increase from delaying your initial claim beyond age 70.
For retirees who have sufficient income from other sources, delaying benefits may be worth considering as part of a strategy designed to increase guaranteed monthly income later in retirement.
1. Consider Your Overall Retirement Income
Social Security should rarely be considered in isolation.
A comprehensive retirement income plan may include:
- Social Security benefits
- 401(k) and 403(b) accounts
- Traditional and Roth IRAs
- Pensions
- Taxable investment accounts
- Cash reserves
- Annuities or other income sources
- Business or rental income
Suppose you retire at 62 but have enough savings and investment income to cover your expenses for several years. Instead of automatically claiming Social Security, you might evaluate whether drawing strategically from other assets while delaying Social Security better supports your long-term plan.
Another retiree may have limited liquid savings and need Social Security immediately.
Neither decision can be evaluated solely by looking at age.
A retirement-focused investment management advisor can help model how different Social Security claiming ages interact with portfolio withdrawals and other income sources.
2. Think About Your Expected Longevity
Longevity is another important consideration.
Claiming early generally gives you smaller payments for a longer period. Delaying gives you fewer payments initially but potentially larger monthly payments later.
This creates what is sometimes called a break-even point—the age at which the cumulative value of waiting may begin to exceed the cumulative benefits of claiming earlier.
However, the break-even calculation shouldn’t be the only consideration.
Your personal and family health history, lifestyle, other retirement assets, insurance coverage, and income requirements can all influence the decision.
For married couples, longevity can become even more important because Social Security decisions may also affect benefits available to a surviving spouse.
3. Are You Still Working?
Claiming Social Security while continuing to work requires additional planning, particularly if you haven’t reached full retirement age.
Social Security applies an earnings test to people who receive retirement benefits before FRA and continue earning employment or self-employment income.
For 2026, the Social Security Administration lists an annual earnings limit of $24,480 for beneficiaries who remain below full retirement age for the entire year. A different, higher limit applies during the year someone reaches FRA. Once full retirement age is reached, the earnings limit no longer applies.
Importantly, benefits withheld because of the earnings test aren’t necessarily “lost” forever; Social Security later recalculates benefits to account for months in which benefits were withheld.
If you’re planning to work during retirement, consider the interaction among:
employment income + Social Security + portfolio withdrawals + taxes.
That combined picture is much more useful than making the Social Security decision separately.
4. Consider the Tax Impact of Social Security
A common misconception is that Social Security retirement benefits are always tax-free.
Depending on your filing status and other income, a portion of your Social Security benefits may be subject to federal income tax.
The IRS determines potential taxation using a calculation that generally considers one-half of Social Security benefits plus other income, including tax-exempt interest.
For example, the IRS states that benefits may become partly taxable when this combined amount exceeds $25,000 for a single filer or $32,000 for a married couple filing jointly.
This is where Social Security planning connects directly with broader retirement tax planning.
Withdrawals from traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, pensions, investment income, capital gains, Roth conversions, and other income sources can affect your overall tax situation.
A carefully coordinated withdrawal strategy may help manage taxable income throughout retirement rather than focusing solely on maximizing Social Security.
5. Coordinate Social Security With Your Investment Strategy
Your investment portfolio and Social Security strategy should work together.
For example, someone delaying Social Security may need to rely more heavily on portfolio withdrawals during the first several years of retirement.
That raises additional questions:
How much can you comfortably withdraw?
Which accounts should withdrawals come from first?
Should taxable investments, traditional retirement accounts, or Roth assets be used?
How would a significant market decline early in retirement affect the plan?
Should part of the portfolio remain positioned for long-term growth?
These questions demonstrate why Social Security planning and investment management are closely connected.
A qualified investment management advisor can help evaluate different withdrawal scenarios while considering risk tolerance, asset allocation, taxes, and long-term income requirements.
6. Married Couples Should Coordinate Their Decisions
For married couples, deciding when to claim Social Security becomes more complex because the decision may involve two earnings histories rather than one.
Potential considerations include:
- Each spouse’s own retirement benefit
- Differences in ages
- Differences in lifetime earnings
- Spousal benefits
- Survivor benefits
- Expected longevity
- Other retirement income
For example, a couple may evaluate whether delaying the higher earner’s benefit could provide greater long-term protection for the surviving spouse.
Rather than having each spouse make an independent decision, Social Security can be evaluated as part of a household retirement income strategy.
7. Don’t Confuse Social Security Timing With Medicare Timing
Social Security and Medicare are closely connected, but their enrollment timelines aren’t identical.
Medicare eligibility generally begins around age 65, while Social Security retirement benefits can begin as early as age 62 and can be delayed until age 70 for purposes of earning delayed retirement credits.
This distinction is particularly important for someone who plans to delay Social Security.
If you’re already receiving Social Security benefits at least four months before turning 65, Medicare states that you’ll generally be automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B. If you’re delaying Social Security beyond 65, you may need to take separate steps regarding Medicare enrollment, depending on your circumstances and employer health coverage.
Medicare’s Initial Enrollment Period generally lasts seven months: the three months before you turn 65, the month you turn 65, and the following three months.
Because Medicare and Social Security decisions can overlap with employer coverage, HSAs, retirement dates, and income planning, working with professionals familiar with Medicare and Social Security retirement planning can help you understand how the pieces fit together.
8. Consider Your Other Retirement Assets
Your ability to delay Social Security often depends on the resources available to support you in the meantime.
Someone with substantial retirement savings may have greater flexibility to postpone Social Security than someone who relies heavily on the benefit to pay monthly expenses.
But having enough investments doesn’t automatically mean delaying is appropriate.
Using investments first can affect:
- Portfolio longevity
- Investment risk
- Future required minimum distributions
- Taxes
- Roth conversion opportunities
- Emergency reserves
- Estate and legacy goals
This is why claiming strategies should be modeled within the context of your entire financial picture.
9. Don’t Base the Decision Only on Fear About Social Security’s Future
Concerns about the long-term financial condition of Social Security sometimes cause people to claim earlier than they otherwise would.
It’s reasonable to stay informed about potential legislative changes. However, a retirement strategy shouldn’t be based solely on speculation about future policy.
Instead, consider what current law provides, understand how alternative scenarios could affect your plan, and build enough flexibility into your retirement strategy to adapt if circumstances change.
10. Evaluate Social Security as Part of a Comprehensive Retirement Plan
The question isn’t simply:
“What age should I take Social Security?”
A more useful question is:
“What Social Security strategy best complements my retirement income, investments, taxes, healthcare needs, and long-term financial goals?”
That shift in perspective can lead to a much more comprehensive retirement strategy.
A financial advisor for retirement planning can evaluate multiple claiming scenarios alongside projected portfolio withdrawals, taxes, Medicare costs, inflation, and longevity assumptions.
If you’re searching for a Social Security financial advisor near me, consider looking beyond proximity alone. Experience with retirement income planning, investment management, tax-aware strategies, and Social Security coordination may be equally important.
Should You Claim at 62, Full Retirement Age, or 70?
There is no single claiming age that works for everyone.
Claiming at 62 may provide income sooner, but your monthly benefit will generally be permanently reduced compared with waiting until full retirement age.
Claiming at full retirement age provides your full scheduled retirement benefit and removes the retirement earnings-test limitation.
Waiting until 70 can increase your monthly benefit through delayed retirement credits and may be attractive to retirees who can comfortably fund the years before claiming.
Your decision should reflect your complete retirement situation—not simply the size of your Social Security check.
Building Social Security Into Your Retirement Strategy
Social Security may eventually represent an important source of lifetime retirement income, but it is only one component of a comprehensive financial plan.
Before choosing when to claim, consider how the decision interacts with:
- Your retirement date
- Monthly spending needs
- Investment portfolio
- Tax strategy
- Medicare and healthcare coverage
- Spouse’s benefits
- Longevity
- Required minimum distributions
- Estate and legacy objectives
At Schmidt Wealth Management, retirement planning can bring these moving pieces together into one coordinated strategy. Rather than treating Social Security, investments, taxes, and healthcare as separate decisions, comprehensive planning can help evaluate how each decision affects the others.
If you’re approaching retirement and aren’t sure when to begin Social Security, working with a retirement financial advisor can help you compare different scenarios and make a decision based on your individual financial circumstances and long-term goals.
FAQs
What is the best age to start taking Social Security?
There isn’t a universal best age. Social Security retirement benefits can generally begin at 62, while delaying beyond full retirement age can increase the monthly benefit until age 70. The appropriate timing depends on factors such as income needs, employment, other assets, taxes, marital status, health considerations, and retirement goals.
How much do I lose if I take Social Security at 62?
The reduction depends on your full retirement age and how early you claim. For someone with a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 can result in a retirement benefit approximately 30% lower than the full-retirement-age amount.
Does Social Security increase if I wait until age 70?
Yes. If you delay retirement benefits beyond full retirement age, delayed retirement credits increase your monthly benefit until age 70. Delaying beyond 70 does not provide additional delayed retirement credits.
Can I work while receiving Social Security?
Yes. However, if you receive benefits before reaching full retirement age, your benefits may be temporarily withheld if your earnings exceed the applicable annual limit. Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, there is no Social Security earnings limit.
Is Social Security taxable?
It can be. Federal taxation depends on your filing status and combined income, which generally includes one-half of your Social Security benefits plus other income and tax-exempt interest.
Do I have to take Social Security when I enroll in Medicare?
No. Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare have different eligibility and enrollment rules. You may delay Social Security while enrolling in Medicare at 65. However, Medicare enrollment requirements depend on factors such as whether you’re still working and whether you have qualifying employer health coverage.
Should I speak with a financial advisor before claiming Social Security?
A financial advisor isn’t required to claim Social Security, but professional retirement planning can help you understand how different claiming ages may affect portfolio withdrawals, taxes, Medicare planning, spouse or survivor benefits, and long-term retirement income.
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