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

Q: In this article

What’s the earliest you can start Social Security? What is full retirement age? What happens if you start Social Security between 62 and FRA? What happens if you wait past FRA? So, when should I claim retirement benefits?

The age when you claim directly affects how much you receive — here’s how to get your maximum payment, and when it makes sense to start collecting early

5-minute read

Part of Series: Retirement Benefits

Phil Pruitt,

AARP

Expert reviewed by

Tom Margenau

Published October 12, 2026

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.

Tom Margenau writes the "Social Security Simplified" column for AARP Bulletin and the nationally syndicated column "Social Security and You." He is a former public information director at the Social Security Administration and a 32-year veteran of the agency.

Key takeaways

The earliest you can start retirement benefits is 62, with payments beginning in the first full month after your birthday.
Full retirement age is when you qualify for 100 percent of the retirement benefit calculated from your lifetime earnings history.
You’ll get only 70 percent of your “full” benefit if you file when you turn 62, but your payment amount goes up for each month you wait up to age 70.

.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?
What is full retirement age?
What happens if you start Social Security between 62 and FRA?
What happens if you wait past FRA?
So, when should I claim retirement benefits?

What’s the earliest you can start Social Security?

The minimum age to collect retirement benefits is age 62. The earliest you can receive a payment is 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 benefit eligibility starts in July, and you can apply as early as March. (Social Security makes payments a month behind, so you’ll receive that July benefit in August.)

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

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For example, if you were born on Nov. 1 or 2, 1964, Social Security considers you to be 62 as of Oct. 31 or Nov. 1, 2026. You can apply in July 2026, and your first payment would be for 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. That’s 67 for people born in 1960 and later.

For most of Social Security’s history, FRA was 65, a big reason why that age became almost synonymous with retirement for generations of Americans. But since the early 2000s, FRA has been gradually increasing, one of the many changes to Social Security’s financial structure enacted by Congress in 1983.

That step-by-step increase is nearly complete. FRA is 66 and 10 months for someone born in 1959 — for example, if you were born between Oct. 2 and 31, 1959, you reached it in August 2026 — and it settles at 67 for anyone born in 1960 or afterward.

What happens if you start Social Security between 62 and FRA?

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 1965 and start benefits in 2027 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.

Something else to consider about claiming early: You might be subject to Social Security’s earnings test. Work income above a certain level could trigger temporary withholding from your benefit payments. The test disappears at FRA — you can earn any amount with no withholding — and if there were past deductions, Social Security adjusts your benefit amount so that, over time, you recoup them.

What happens if you wait past FRA?

If you delay filing past full retirement age, you will receive more than your full monthly benefit, thanks to delayed retirement credits. These boost your eventual payment by two-thirds of 1 percent for each month you delay, or up to 8 percent for each full year. 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. So, if you file for Social Security at 70, for the rest of your life, you’ll get 24 percent more per month than if you’d done so at full retirement age — and 77 percent more than if you’d claimed at 62.

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.

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.

So, when should I claim retirement benefits?

That’s a complicated and highly individual question. The basic issue is this: Should you start your benefit earlier at a reduced amount, or start later at a higher level? Your answer 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 in 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.

Of course, you can’t predict with certainty how long you’ll live, but data on life expectancy can help you make a more informed claiming decision. Studies show that many people underestimate their likely lifespan, leading to greater longevity risk (the risk of outliving your money). According to Social Security Administration actuarial data, the average life expectancy for an American who reaches age 65 is approximately 18 years for men and 21 years for women.

How long do you expect to be working? Many older adults are being nudged — or outright pushed — 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, you may need to file for Social Security early and take lower benefits to make ends meet. Just be sure to do the math on the earnings test so you understand how working would affect your monthly payments.

On the other hand, many older adults who have a choice about working longer are doing so, to maintain a steady paycheck, a sense of purpose or both. If you still like your full-time job and can keep doing it, that income can give you a way to delay your Social Security claim and beef up your benefit.

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 after you’re gone.

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

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