What Age Maximizes Your Lifetime Benefits?

Enter your estimated benefit and how long you expect to live. The calculator compares claiming at every whole age from 62 through 70 and identifies which age produces the highest total lifetime Social Security payments.

Your information

Use the monthly benefit shown for your full retirement age on your Social Security statement.

Year of birth

Monthly benefit at full retirement age Before taxes

$

Expected lifespan

85 yearsold

Age 65Age 105

Or enter an exact lifespan

years

months

Your full retirement age Age 67

Results are shown in today’s dollars with no assumed cost-of-living adjustment, investment return, taxes, or discount rate.

Highest projected lifetime total

Claim at age 70

Best age 70

Lifetime benefits $558,000

Monthly benefit $3,100

Years receiving benefits 15 years

Lifetime benefits by claiming age

Total gross benefits received through the selected lifespan.

Highest total

Why might an age never appear as “best”? Every age from 62 through 70 is still calculated. Because Social Security’s early-reduction and delayed-credit formulas change at different rates, a nearby claiming age can produce a higher lifetime total at every lifespan. This can cause ages such as 64 or 67 to be included without ever becoming the single winner for some birth years.

Free Social Security Assessment

Should You Claim Social Security at 62?

Lifetime benefits do not tell the whole story. Answer a few questions about your health, income needs, work plans, portfolio, and family situation to see whether claiming at 62 may fit your retirement plan.

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Lifetime benefits are only one part of the decision.

Portfolio withdrawals, taxes, earned income, and spouse or survivor benefits can make a different claiming age better for the complete retirement plan.

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See the full calculation and assumptions

Claim age	Monthly benefit	Years paid	Lifetime benefits	Difference from best

This compares the worker’s own retirement benefit at whole-year claiming ages from 62 through 70.
Early-claim reductions and delayed-retirement credits are estimated from current-law Social Security formulas. Because those adjustments are not a single perfectly linear schedule, some claiming ages may never be the highest-lifetime-total option.
The lifespan control moves in one-month increments, and the calculation assumes benefits are received monthly until the selected age.
It does not include future earnings, the earnings test, taxes, Medicare premiums, spousal benefits, survivor benefits, or the time value of money.
Use the official benefit estimates from your Social Security account before making a filing decision.

Educational illustration only. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration. Formula references: early-retirement reductions and delayed-retirement credits. This is not individualized financial, tax, legal, or Social Security advice.

Riemer Retirement is not a financial advisor, investment adviser, broker-dealer, tax advisor, or law firm.

This site is educational and for advisor-matching purposes only. Participating advisors may pay a marketing fee to be included in the advisor match program.

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