Free tool · Retirement

Social Security Claiming-Age & Breakeven Calculator

Claiming early locks in a smaller check sooner; waiting buys a bigger one later. This tool models the trade-off and shows the breakeven age where waiting pulls ahead.

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Benefit at 62

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Benefit at FRA

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Benefit at 70

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Early claim: monthly benefit—

Late claim: monthly benefit—

Extra per month from waiting—

Months of late checks forgone (gap)—

Breakeven = late ÷ (late − early) × gap—

Early reduction: 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before FRA, then 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that. Delayed credit: 2/3 of 1% per month (8% per year) for each month after FRA, capped at age 70. The breakeven age is where cumulative benefits from the two claiming choices are equal: before it, the earlier claim has paid out more in total; after it, the later claim is ahead. This is a benefits-only model — it ignores taxes, the time value of money, spousal benefits, and investing the early checks. Taxes and portfolio drawdown are modeled in the full ClearAxisCFO plan, not here.

One slice of the picture

See how claiming plays against your taxes and portfolio drawdown.