When Should You Take Social Security?

Andy Markowitz and Tracy Thompson

Updated April 28, 2025

AARP

Reviewed by

Stephen Richardson

Comments

En español

Published October 10, 2018

/ Updated April 28, 2025

The answer to that question is complicated and highly individual. You can claim Social Security as early as age 62, but many personal finance experts tell their clients to put off filing for benefits as long as possible. This strategy will maximize your monthly payments, but that's not necessarily the end of the discussion.

What should I consider before filing?

The basic question is this: Should you start your benefit earlier at a reduced amount, or start later at a higher level? If you delay, your eventual Social Security payment will keep rising until you hit 70. However, many other factors help determine the best age for you to claim benefits, including your physical well-being, marital status, financial needs and job satisfaction. Health and job security are two key areas to consider:

1. 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 what makes more sense for you and your family is getting what you can while you can.

2. 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 the gig economy. If you find yourself scraping to cover expenses, filing for Social Security at age 62 and taking lower benefits may be what you need to make ends meet.

Why should I wait to file?

Still, waiting as long as you can has some compelling arguments:

Filing earlier locks you into a lower benefit, permanently. You are not entitled to 100 percent of the benefit calculated from your earnings history unless you apply at full retirement age. That’s 66 and 8 months for people born in 1958, 66 and 10 months for people born in 1959 and 67 for people born in 1960 and later.

Continuing to work doesn’t reduce benefits after you reach full retirement age. Before then, you are subject to earnings limits that could trigger withholding from your Social Security payments and from those of your spouse and children if they are collecting benefits on your work record.

Working from full retirement age until 70 earns you delayed retirement credits. These boost your eventual benefit by two-thirds of 1 percent for each month you wait — and increase your spouse’s survivor benefits if you die first.

Keep in mind

You can apply for Social Security up to four months before the date you want your benefits to begin. Applications can be filed online (if you have a My Social Security account), by phone (call 800-772-1213), or at a local Social Security office.
You won’t receive your first payment until the month after your first full month as a 62-year-old no matter how early you file.
You can’t sign up for Medicare until you’re 65 even if you file for Social Security before then. Unless you suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or end-stage renal disease or you have been eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for at least two years, you can’t enroll earlier.

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Andy Markowitz is a writer and editor for AARP, covering Social Security and fraud. He is a former editor of The Prague Post and Baltimore City Paper.

Tracy Thompson is a journalist and editor who has worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Washington Post. She is the author of three books and lives with her family in the Washington, D.C., suburbs.

Stephen Richardson is a retired New England regional communications director for the Social Security Administration and AARP consultant on Social Security benefit issues. He began his career with the agency in 1982 as a claims representative.

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When should I start collecting Social Security?

Your overall health and job security play a part in the decision

In this story

What should I consider before filing?

Why should I wait to file?

Keep in mind