Here are the worst ages to claim Social Security. Is your timing all wrong?

Many people wonder what the “perfect” age is to claim Social Security benefits.

Filing at the right age can significantly affect your retirement income, and avoiding certain ages may be just as important for maximizing benefits.

With that in mind, here are the ages you should probably avoid if you don’t want to permanently trim your benefit check.

The age of eligibility is also the most popular age to claim benefits. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, 29% of retirees claim benefits at 62. (1)

Claiming as early as possible gives you more time to enjoy a steady and fixed monthly source of income. However, that income is guaranteed to be smaller.

If you start receiving Social Security at 62, your monthly benefits will be 30% lower than if you wait until the full retirement age (FRA) of 67 and 44% lower than if you started claiming at age 70. (2)

A 44% reduction in monthly income is highly consequential in retirement. According to the Urban Institute, early claims expose individuals to higher longevity risk, or, in other words, less lifetime benefits if you live longer. (3) It can also have a tangible impact on your survivor benefits for your spouse and dependent children.

These factors make 62 one of the worst ages to claim benefits.

If you’re only a year or two away from your FRA, it may be worth waiting to claim Social Security. The Social Security Administration (SSA) calculates early or delayed benefits based on your FRA benefit.

Because the reductions for claiming early are smaller the closer you are to FRA, waiting just a short time can result in a noticeably higher monthly benefit.

Delaying a claim at 65 or 66 can boost your monthly payout by 8% per year until age 70. Because this increase is guaranteed by the SSA, it functions similarly to a fixed-income investment, like a bond or Treasury. However, the effective 8% “yield” is likely higher than what you can earn in the fixed-income market.

For comparison, 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds were yielding 4.17% as of Dec. 16, 2025, while AAA-rated corporate bonds, as of Dec. 12, 2025, offered 5.37% on average. (4,5)

Simply put, delaying by a couple of years can be a financially beneficial strategy.

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It’s worth noting that the SSA calculates benefits on a monthly basis. For instance, if you file your claim six months after turning 62, your monthly benefit would be reduced by about 27.5% instead of the full 30% for claiming exactly at 62. (6)

That means every month counts, and if you’re only a few months away from FRA or a big bump in monthly payments, you may want to wait to file your claim to maximize your benefits.

It’s also worth remembering that the “perfect time” is a purely financial perspective, and your decision to file may involve other factors.

Spreadsheets and calculators can help you optimize the timing of your benefits claim with precision. But these calculations are exclusively focused on the financial aspect of your retirement. There could be several other factors that determine the best or worst ages to file your specific claim.

For instance, if you suffer from a chronic health condition that limits your potential life expectancy, claiming benefits earlier could maximize your total lifetime payout. In this case, it makes financial sense to claim as early as possible.

Besides health, your personal circumstances could also warrant an early claim. For example, if you’re laid off from work just a few years before your planned retirement, you could face a sudden need for stable cash flow.

Alternatively, applying for Social Security as soon as you can may be your only way to retire early and enjoy travelling and certain activities that get harder to do as you age.

This is why, despite all the math involved, your decision about when to start claiming benefits from a system you’ve contributed to for your whole career is highly personal and subjective.

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

Bipartisan Policy Center (1); Social Security Administration (SSA) (2); Urban Institute (3); CNBC (4); Y Charts (5); Social Security Administration (SSA) (6).

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.