Collecting Social Security Benefits at 62 vs. 67 vs. 70

How to receive your highest monthly benefit, and when it makes sense to start collecting early

Phil Pruitt,

AARP

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Published October 06, 2025

three egg shaped balloons over a nest. the balloons each have a different age on them, sixty two, sixty seven and seventy.

Chris Gash

In this story

Earliest eligibility age • Full retirement age • What if you start at 62 • What if you wait until 70 • Guidelines for applying • Keep in mind

Age is often described as just a number, but that number matters when it comes to filing for Social Security retirement benefits. Here is a look at the pivotal role age plays.

What’s the earliest you can start Social Security?

The earliest you can start retirement benefits is age 62. Your payments would begin in your first full month as a 62-year-old — that is, the calendar month after your birthday.

You can apply up to four months before you want your Social Security payments to start. For example, if you turn 62 in June, your benefits can begin in July, and you can apply as early as March.

There is an exception: If you were born on the first or second day of a month, you can begin collecting your benefits in that month.

For example, if you were born on Nov. 1 or 2, 1963, Social Security considers you to be 62 as of Oct. 31 or Nov. 1, 2025. You can apply for benefits in July and they would begin in November. But if you were born between Nov. 3 and Nov. 30, your first full month at 62 is December.

What is full retirement age?

Full retirement age, or FRA, is when you become entitled to claim 100 percent of the Social Security benefit calculated from your lifetime earnings. For most of the program’s history, that age was 65, but since the early 2000s, it has been gradually increasing to 67 because of changes to Social Security’s financial structure that Congress enacted in 1983.

What happens if you start Social Security at 62?

If you begin benefits before your full retirement age, Social Security reduces your monthly payment by a fraction of a percent for each month you filed early. The dollars add up.

If you were born in 1963 and start benefits in 2025 at age 62, you will get as little as 70 percent of the amount you would have received if you had waited until 67, your full retirement age. That reduction is permanent.

What happens if you wait until 70?

If you delay filing past full retirement age, you will receive more than your full monthly benefit, thanks to delayed retirement credits. The increase is capped at age 70, when you can claim your maximum monthly benefit.

Like the reduction for early retirement, the increase for starting Social Security between FRA and 70 is permanent.

You don’t have to begin collecting Social Security by your 70th birthday, but your benefit will not increase if you delay past then. Delayed retirement credits stop accumulating at age 70.

What are some guidelines for deciding when to apply?

When you can claim retirement benefits is separate from the more complicated question of when you should claim benefits.

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The basic issue is this: Should you start your benefit earlier at a reduced amount, or start later at a higher level? The answer is highly individual and will depend on many factors, including your physical well-being, marital status, financial needs and job security. Here are some key things to consider:

How’s your health and your family’s health history? If you have a reasonable expectation of living decades past retirement, postponing benefits to get a bigger payment could prove important to your long-term financial stability. But if you turn 62 in poor health or have a genetic predisposition to certain illnesses, you may decide it makes more sense for you and your family to get what you can while you can.
How long do you expect to be steadily employed? Many older workers are being nudged into early retirement as companies downsize. They wind up spending their last working years in part-time or gig economy jobs. If you find yourself scraping to cover expenses, filing for Social Security early and taking lower benefits may be what you need to make ends meet.
Are survivor benefits a priority? Benefits for a spouse who outlives you are based on how much Social Security you were receiving or were entitled to receive at the time of death. Delaying your claim to increase your retirement benefit could provide a bigger Social Security payment for your spouse (and, in some circumstances, your children) after you’re gone.

Keep in mind

You can file an application for retirement benefits online (if you have a My Social Security account), by phone (call 800-772-1213) or at a local Social Security office (call ahead to schedule an appointment).
If you claim Social Security before full retirement age, you may be subject to Social Security’s earnings test. Work income above a certain level could trigger temporary withholding from your benefit payments and those of your spouse and children, if they are collecting benefits on your work record. Once you reach FRA, there’s no withholding, no matter how much you earn.
If you claim after full retirement age, you may be able to collect retroactive benefits covering up to six months before the month you filed your application. However, if you choose to collect retroactive benefits, you lose any delayed retirement credits you earned for those months.

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Phil Pruitt is an AARP writer and editor focusing on Social Security. He is a former editor at Scripps News and Yahoo News and was on the start-up staff at USA Today, where he held numerous editing positions.