When Should I Take Social Security?

It’s one of the most common questions we hear from clients approaching retirement: When should I start taking Social Security? The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all, so we will run you through the top considerations when deciding what’s best for you.

Here’s what you need to know to make a well-informed decision.

The Basics: Your Claiming Window

You can begin collecting Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62 or as late as age 70. The age at which you claim permanently affects your monthly benefit, so timing matters.

The Social Security Administration calculates your benefit based on your Full Retirement Age (FRA), which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.

• Claim at 62: Your benefit is reduced by up to 30% permanently
• Claim at FRA (67): You receive 100% of your calculated benefit
• Claim at 70: You receive 124% of your FRA benefit, thanks to delayed retirement credits of 8% per year

Those delayed retirement credits can be significant, but so can outsized near term withdrawals on your retirement savings. Let’s dive into the variables that are unique to each individual situation.

The Key Variables That Drive the Decision

No single rule works for everyone. Your optimal claiming age depends on several intersecting factors.

1. Your Health and Life Expectancy

Social Security is, in part, a longevity hedge. The longer you live, the more you stand to gain from waiting.

The breakeven point, where the cumulative value of waiting exceeds the cumulative value of claiming early, typically falls around ages 78 to 82, depending on assumptions. If you expect to live into your late 80s or beyond, delaying generally pays off. If you have serious health concerns or a family history of shorter lifespans, claiming earlier may make more sense.

2. Your Financial Need

Do you need the income now? If you retire at 62 without meaningful savings or other income sources, claiming early may be necessary regardless of what the math says in isolation. On the other hand, if you have substantial assets and can cover expenses from your portfolio during your 60s, delaying allows your benefit to compound.

3. Spousal Benefits

For married couples, Social Security planning becomes a joint decision. A few important rules:

• A spouse can claim up to 50% of the higher earner’s FRA benefit
• Survivor benefits allow a widowed spouse to step up to the deceased spouse’s benefit
• This means the higher earner delaying to 70 can provide meaningful income protection for a surviving spouse

In many cases, the optimal strategy involves the higher earner delaying as long as possible while the lower earner claims earlier.

4. Other Income Sources

If you continue working between 62 and FRA, your benefit can be temporarily reduced. In 2026, the Social Security Administration withholds $1 for every $2 earned above $24,480 (this may adjust each year and details should be confirmed at ssa.gov). Benefits are recalculated at FRA and this reduction is recovered over time, but it’s worth factoring in if you plan to keep working.

Additionally, Social Security benefits may be partially taxable depending on your combined income. Up to 85% of your benefit can be subject to federal income tax if your provisional income exceeds certain thresholds. Understanding your tax picture matters.

5. Portfolio Withdrawal Strategy

Delaying Social Security often means drawing more heavily from your portfolio in the early years of retirement. This has real implications. You need enough assets to bridge the gap, and sequence of returns risk means that pulling from a portfolio in a down market early in retirement can have lasting effects. The right Social Security strategy is inseparable from your overall withdrawal plan.

Common Misconceptions

“I should take it early to get my money back.” Social Security is not a savings account with your name on it. It’s a monthly income stream designed to provide longevity protection. Optimizing for total lifetime income usually means being patient.

“Social Security is going to run out anyway.” The Social Security trust fund faces long-term funding pressure, but benefits are unlikely to disappear. Projections suggest that even without legislative changes, the program could pay roughly 83% of scheduled benefits after 2035, but the exact figure is subject to ongoing revisions. This is a real consideration but rarely a compelling reason to claim early.

“I’ll invest the early payments and come out ahead.” The math sometimes appears to support this, but it requires consistent investment returns and doesn’t account for the tax efficiency, inflation protection, and longevity insurance that a higher benefit provides.

Two Scenarios That Illustrate the Decision

Scenario A: The Early Retiree with Good Health

Profile: Carol, age 62, single, retired early from a corporate role. She has $800,000 in retirement savings, no pension, and her FRA benefit would be $2,400/month. She is in good health and her mother lived to 91.

Carol is tempted to claim at 62 to reduce portfolio withdrawals. Her reduced benefit would be $1,680/month.

If she waits to 70, her benefit would be $2,976/month. That’s $1,296 more per month, every month, for the rest of her life, with cost-of-living adjustments.

By waiting, Carol would draw more from her portfolio between now and 70, roughly $240,000 over eight years at her current spending rate, but she would significantly reduce her dependence on the portfolio after 70. Given her longevity profile and the portfolio’s ability to cover the bridge period, waiting is likely the right call. At 82, she’s ahead on cumulative benefits, and every year after that the gap widens.

Likely Best Approach for Carol: Delay to 70, fund expenses from portfolio in the interim, and treat the higher benefit as longevity insurance.

Scenario B: The Married Couple with an Income Gap

Profile: David and Maria, both 63. David has a strong earnings history with an FRA benefit of $3,200/month. Maria worked part-time for much of their marriage and has an FRA benefit of $900/month. David has a family history of heart disease and is concerned about his health. Maria is healthy with good longevity prospects.

This scenario illustrates how spousal and survivor dynamics shift the calculus.

Maria should likely claim at 62 or 63. Her own benefit is modest, and if David predeceases her, she’ll step up to his survivor benefit regardless of what she did with her own.

David’s decision is more complex. Despite his health concerns, delaying his benefit provides Maria with the highest possible survivor benefit if he dies first. A widow or widower receives the deceased spouse’s full benefit, including any delayed retirement credits. If David delays to 70 and Maria survives him by 15 years, she collects $3,968/month instead of $2,240, a difference that could total over $260,000 in lifetime income.

Balancing David’s own health uncertainty against Maria’s longevity scenario, a reasonable strategy might be for David to delay to at least 67 or 68, even if not the full 70, to meaningfully increase her survivor protection without requiring an extended bridge period.

Likely Best Approach for David and Maria: Maria claims early. David delays to at least FRA, ideally 68 to 70, with survivor benefit maximization as the primary objective.

The Bottom Line

There is no universal answer to when you should take Social Security. The right decision sits at the intersection of your health, your household income needs, your spouse’s situation, your portfolio, and your broader retirement plan.

What we consistently see is that higher-earning individuals with good health and adequate savings benefit significantly from delaying. Claiming earlier makes sense when health is compromised, income is needed immediately, or the gap between the higher and lower earner is small.

This is one of the most valuable planning conversations you can have, and it’s worth doing the analysis before you file. Once you claim, you generally cannot undo it.

If you’d like to run a personalized Social Security analysis, we’re happy to help. Reach out to schedule a conversation.

Advisory Services offered through Peak Asset Management, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and they should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. All strategies and services described involve risks, tax implications, and potential limitations, and may not be appropriate for every investor; clients should consider these factors carefully before making decisions. This content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information and may have been developed and produced by a third party to provide information on a topic that may be of interest. This third party is not affiliated with Peak Asset Management. It is not our intention to state or imply in any manner that past results are an indication of future performance. Copyright © 2026 Peak Asset Management