The Data is Clear: When Should You Claim Social Security for Maximum Lifetime Benefits?

Social Security represents a financial lifeline for most retirees—without it, poverty among seniors aged 65+ would skyrocket from 10.2% to an estimated 38.7%. Yet the average monthly benefit of $1,910.79 leaves little room for error. The critical decision isn’t just when you retire, but more importantly, when you claim your benefits. A surprising finding from United Income’s comprehensive research reveals that 96% of retirees make the wrong claiming choice—and the consequences compound over decades.

What Actually Determines Your Monthly Social Security Check?

Your monthly payout hinges on four straightforward components that the Social Security Administration calculates:

Your earnings and work history form the foundation. The SSA examines your 35 highest-earning, inflation-adjusted years. While maximum monthly payouts cap at $3,822 in 2024, higher lifetime earnings increase your benefit. Critically, working fewer than 35 years results in zero-dollar years being averaged into your calculation—a hidden penalty that many don’t anticipate.

Your full retirement age is determined solely by your birth year and represents when you become eligible for 100% of your benefit. For workers born in 1960 or later, this age is 67. You cannot control this variable, making it the one immovable piece of the puzzle.

Your claiming age is the variable that transforms everything. This single decision can swing your lifetime income by hundreds of thousands of dollars. For every year you delay claiming (from age 62 through 69), your monthly benefit grows approximately 8% annually. Someone born after 1960 claiming at 62 receives just 70% of their full benefit, while waiting until 70 yields 124%—a stunning 54-percentage-point difference.

The Wide Disparity Across Different Claiming Ages

The claiming age variance reveals just how much patience (or urgency) impacts your wallet:

Claiming at age 62 means getting paid immediately—your money now rather than later. This appeals to those worried about potential benefit cuts (projections show up to 23% reductions by 2033). However, claiming early permanently reduces your monthly check by 25-30%, a reduction that follows you for life.

Claiming at age 65 strikes a middle ground. This age once represented Social Security’s full retirement age and allows workers to access funds while still young enough to travel and enjoy retirement. The trade-off: your benefit remains permanently reduced, and you may face early-filer penalties if you earn above the income threshold.

Retirement at 67 has emerged as increasingly appealing since it represents the full retirement age for those born 1960 or later. Claiming at 67 means receiving your full, unreduced retirement benefit—no more, no less. The downside is substantial: if you live well into your 80s or 90s, you forfeit years of maximum Social Security payments, potentially leaving significant lifetime income on the table.

Claiming at age 70 delivers your maximum possible monthly benefit based on your entire earnings history. Waiting those eight extra years post-eligibility provides the highest individual check. But the gamble is real—there’s no guarantee you’ll live long enough to break even, let alone maximize your total lifetime receipts.

What Research Reveals About the “Optimal” Choice

Here’s where the data becomes genuinely shocking. In 2019, United Income analyzed claiming decisions among 20,000 retired workers using the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study. Their objective: determine which claiming age actually maximized lifetime income—not just the monthly check, but total benefits received over a lifetime.

The findings inverted conventional wisdom. While most of the 20,000 claimants began benefits before reaching full retirement age, the mathematically optimal claims overwhelmingly occurred at or after full retirement age.

Consider these specifics: ages 62, 63, and 64 combined were optimal for just 8% of claimants. Ages 62-65 collectively represented the four ages least likely to maximize lifetime benefits. Meanwhile, age 67 proved optimal for approximately 10% of workers.

But the real revelation? Age 70 was the optimal claiming age for 57% of the 20,000 retirees analyzed—meaning more than half would have received dramatically higher lifetime income by delaying until 70.

Who Should Deviate From This Pattern?

While age 70 emerges as optimal for the majority, important exceptions exist. Lower-earning spouses sometimes benefit from claiming early, allowing their household to generate immediate income while their higher-earning spouse’s benefit grows. Individuals with serious health conditions reducing life expectancy may similarly find earlier claims align better with their circumstances.

The broader insight, however, is undeniable: for most workers, patience in claiming Social Security pays dividends. Future retirees seeking financial security should seriously consider extending their claiming timeline beyond traditional expectations.

The decision about when to claim Social Security—whether at 62, 65, retirement at 67, or age 70—will echo through your finances for decades. The research suggests that for the majority, waiting isn’t just reasonable; it’s the financially optimal path.