Free calculator · Social Security
Social Security break-even calculator
Compare two claim ages: the monthly benefit at each and the age at which the later claim’s total catches up. A grid below covers married couples.
Claiming at 70 catches up with claiming at 67 at age: 82 years 6 months.
Claiming at 70 catches up with claiming at 67 at age82 years 6 monthsPlan withdrawals and Roth conversions together
See how cash, IRA, Roth and brokerage withdrawals cover spending, with federal and state tax.
Waiting from 67 to 70 adds 36 months of delayed credits, $480.00 a month. By 82 years 6 months each claim has paid $372,000; after that, the later claim’s total is larger.
| Age | Total claiming at 67 | Total claiming at 70 |
|---|---|---|
| 75 | $192,000 | $148,800 |
| 80 | $312,000 | $297,600 |
| 82 y 6 m | $372,000 | $372,000 |
| 85 | $432,000 | $446,400 |
| 90 | $552,000 | $595,200 |
Today's dollars at the PIA you entered; no cost-of-living adjustments and no discounting.
Calculations, not tax, legal or investment advice.
Method and sources
Full retirement age comes from your birth year. Claiming before it reduces the benefit by 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond, with the reduction rounded up to the dime. Claiming after it adds 2/3 of 1% a month up to age 70, rounded down to the dime. The total at an age is the monthly benefit times the months from the claim age to that age; the break-even age is the first whole month at which the later claim’s total is at least the earlier one’s.
Covers your own retirement benefit only: no spousal or survivor benefits, no earnings test, no cost-of-living adjustments and no Medicare premium deduction. For a married couple, use the claim-age grid.
Tables and sources
- 20 CFR §§404.409, 404.410, 404.313 (eCFR, current)Old-age benefit: full retirement age by date of birth (§404.409(a)), reduction for months before full retirement age (§404.410(a)), delayed retirement credits to age 70 (§404.313) · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.410(a) 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond 36; total reduction rounded to the next higher multiple of 10 cents · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.313(b) credit of 2/3 of 1% per month for births after 1/1/1943, months from full retirement age to age 70; increase rounded to the next lower multiple of 10 cents · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
Married couple: every pair of claim ages
Lifetime benefits for the two of you, for each pair of whole-year claim ages from 62 to 70: each person’s own benefit, a spouse’s benefit where one applies, and the survivor benefit after the first death. The grid is not ranked; it shows what each pair comes to under the ages of death you assume.
Rows: person 1’s claim age. Columns: person 2’s claim age. Each cell: combined lifetime benefits, today’s dollars, no cost-of-living adjustments.
| P1 \ P2 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | |||||||||
| 63 | |||||||||
| 64 | |||||||||
| 65 | |||||||||
| 66 | |||||||||
| 67 | |||||||||
| 68 | |||||||||
| 69 | |||||||||
| 70 |
- Person 1, own benefit216 months × $2,976.00, age 70 to 88$642,816
- +Person 2, own benefit3 months × $1,188.00, age 68 to 68 y 3 m$3,564
- +Person 2, own plus spouse’s benefit216 months × $1,200.00, age 68 y 3 m to 86 y 3 m; $1,188.00 own plus $12.00 spouse’s (half of partner's PIA $1200.00, minus own benefit $1188.00 (§404.407(a)), not below 0)$259,200
- +Person 2, survivor benefit69 months × $2,976.00, age 86 y 3 m to 92$205,344
- =Household lifetime benefits$1,110,924
- Today's dollars at the PIAs you entered; no cost-of-living adjustments.
- Each person's benefits are counted for the months before the age at death you assumed. Those ages are your assumption, not a life expectancy.
- Not discounted.
Calculations, not tax, legal or investment advice.
Known limits
- No cost-of-living adjustments, earnings test, family maximum (§404.403) or Medicare premium deduction; amounts keep the dime rounding of the age adjustments, without the final whole-dollar rounding of §404.304(f).
- A survivor benefit starts in the month of the death, or at the survivor's age 60 if later, and is reduced for age if that is before the survivor's full retirement age.
- A deceased spouse who died before age 62 is treated as having the entered PIA; the special PIA computation of §404.212(b) is not modeled. The lump-sum death payment is not counted.
- Spouse's benefits assume the marriage and filing conditions of §404.330 are met; no child in care.
Tables and sources
- 20 CFR §§404.333, 404.330 (eCFR, current)Spouse's benefit: one-half of the insured person's primary insurance amount (§404.333); entitlement only while the insured is entitled to old-age benefits and only if the spouse's own PIA is smaller than the full spouse's benefit (§404.330(d)) · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.330(d) not entitled when own old-age benefit is based on a PIA equal to or larger than the full wife's or husband's benefit · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.410(b) spouse's benefit reduced 25/36 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age and 5/12 of 1% beyond; (c)(1) widow's or widower's benefit reduced by months early × .285 ÷ months from age 60 to full retirement age; reductions rounded up to the dime; (a) 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond 36; total reduction rounded to the next higher multiple of 10 cents · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.411(c)(1) old-age benefit of a widow(er) born after 1/1/1928 reduced only under §404.410(a); (d) spouse's benefit when also entitled to a reduced old-age benefit: own reduction plus the §404.410 reduction of the excess over the own PIA · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.407(a) another monthly benefit is reduced, not below zero, by the old-age benefit payable for the same month · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.338(a) widow's or widower's benefit equals the insured's PIA; (b) increased by the insured's delayed retirement credits; (c) if the insured took old-age benefits before full retirement age, limited to the larger of the insured's reduced benefit and 82 1/2% of the PIA · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.335(c) widow's or widower's benefit based on age from age 60 · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.409(b) full retirement age for widow's or widower's benefits by date of birth · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 42 U.S.C. §402(r) as amended by Pub. L. 114-74 §831(a)(r)(1)-(2) filing for old-age or spouse's benefits is deemed filing for the other in any month of entitlement; §831(a)(3): applies to individuals who attain age 62 in any calendar year after 2015 (SSA birth year 1954 or later) · 2026 · uscode.house.gov
- 20 CFR §§404.409, 404.410, 404.313 (eCFR, current)Old-age benefit: full retirement age by date of birth (§404.409(a)), reduction for months before full retirement age (§404.410(a)), delayed retirement credits to age 70 (§404.313) · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov
- 20 CFR §404.313(b) credit of 2/3 of 1% per month for births after 1/1/1943, months from full retirement age to age 70; increase rounded to the next lower multiple of 10 cents · 2026 · www.ecfr.gov