People often think of “reaching retirement” as one set date—and at least from an employment standpoint, that’s largely true. Most people only retire from the workforce once.
But many of the traditional trappings of retirement don’t necessarily fall on that date.
There’s Medicare, which typically starts when you turn 65 (though it can vary). For some, there’s the date at which you make your retirement move. And for virtually all Americans, there’s the date at which you start Social Security—which can be when you retire, sure, but also long before and even after you call it a career.
When is the ideal time for you to start Social Security? I’ve compiled a list of the most important questions you can ask yourself—and the answers should help you determine what age aligns best with your unique circumstances and your expectations for the future.
What Is My Social Security Full Retirement Age?
The minimum age you can begin collecting Social Security is 62. However, your full retirement age (FRA)—the age at which you receive your full Social Security retirement benefit—depends on your birth year. Here’s how to determine your FRA:
- Born between 1943 to 1954: 66
- Born in 1955: 66 and 2 months
- Born in 1956: 66 and 4 months
- Born in 1957: 66 and 6 months
- Born in 1958: 66 and 8 months
- Born in 1959: 66 and 10 months
- Born in 1960 or later: 67
Another age to note is 70. If you continue working and delay retirement past FRA, you can effectively earn a higher Social Security benefit. However, those additional benefits max out once you reach age 70, so there’s generally no reason to further delay taking Social Security once you turn 70.
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Social Security Timing Considerations
Figuring out your optimal age to start collecting Social Security might feel overwhelming. After all, this decision will affect your financial wellbeing throughout your retirement.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The age that makes sense for your neighbor to start collecting benefits might not be the ideal age for you.
In figuring out your Social Security timing, you’ll need to consider a variety of topics, from your financial situation to your work history to your family’s longevity. The following questions will cover those topics, and the answers should help you better determine the right age to start Social Security.
1. Will I Have Worked at Least 35 Years?
The size of your benefit isn’t determined solely based on your age. How much Social Security you’ll receive is also based on how much you earned during your working years.
To determine your benefit, the Social Security Administration starts with the average earnings of your 35 highest-earning years of work. To do that, it takes the sum of the earnings of those 35 years, then divides by 35.
Importantly, Social Security does this regardless of how many years you actually worked. Why does that matter? Well, let’s say you only worked for 33 years. In determining the sum of your highest-earning 35 years, Social Security would take the earnings from those 33 years, then input zeroes for two more years—which could significantly bring down your average.
If your work history is less than 35 years, you might want to move your retirement date back enough to record a full 35 years with some level of earnings. Even a part-time job could meaningfully improve your benefit.
Related: How Long Will My Savings Last in Retirement? 4 Withdrawal Strategies
2. Will I Still Be Working?
This question is really intended for people who are considering taking Social Security anytime before they’ve reached their full retirement age.
The good news? You can start receiving Social Security benefits while you’re still working. However, just because you can start claiming benefits doesn’t mean that you should. That’s because if you begin collecting Social Security before FRA and make a certain level of earnings, your benefits might be partially (and temporarily) reduced.
We have a longer explanation in our primer on collecting Social Security while working, but in short: If you’re under full retirement age for the entire year, $1 is deducted for every $2 you earn in wages, commissions, bonus, and vacation pay over the annual limit, which is $23,400 in 2025, up from $22,320 in 2024. If benefits are withheld, they’re withheld each month until you reach the full reduction. So, let’s say you expected to receive $900 in monthly benefits, but your earnings required your benefits to be reduced by $2,700, you would receive no benefit checks for the first three months of the year.
The year in which you reach full retirement is different. That year, you’ll only have $1 out of every $3 in earnings deducted, and only after you exceed a much higher earnings limit ($62,160 in 2025, up from $59,520 in 2024). And the SSA only counts your earnings up to the month before you reach full retirement age, not the full year.
Good news, though: Any excess withheld earnings will be returned the year after they were withheld, and if your benefits were reduced for exceeding the earnings cap, your future monthly benefits will be recalculated once you reach FRA to give you credit for benefits withheld or reduced.
And once you reach FRA, there are no earnings limits—you can collect Social Security with no reductions.
All of this is to say that when pinpointing your Social Security start date, if you think you’ll still be working and below your FRA, you may need to plan around a temporarily deducted benefit. If you think you’ll be at FRA or older, you don’t need to worry about it.
Related: 12 Income Sources That Don’t Affect Your Social Security Benefits
3. What Is My Expected Lifespan?
The Social Security Administration has a life expectancy calculator that estimates the number of living years you have remaining, based on your sex and birthday. And that number can be helpful in determining both when you’ll start to collect Social Security benefits, and, if it’s a different date, when you’ll retire.
The calculator is far from perfect, however. It doesn’t take into account your lifestyle, current health, or family medical history. So you’ll have some thinking to do.
For example, if you’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness, it might behoove you to collect Social Security as soon as you’re eligible—a reduced rate might not be ideal, but why wait to receive a fuller benefit at an age you don’t expect to reach? If you have several chronic conditions and/or are aware you live an unhealthy lifestyle, again, you might consider starting your benefits earlier rather than later.
Alternatively, if you’re in great health, your family’s health history is clean, and longevity runs in your family, that’s a good argument to delay taking Social Security and eventually claim a larger monthly benefit.
Related: 9 States That Tax Social Security Benefits
4. Am I Worried About Social Security Going Away?
Many Americans fear that Social Security won’t be around much longer. For instance, in a 2025 DepositAccounts survey, 59% of nonretired respondents said they’re worried Social Security won’t exist by the time they retire. That number was closer to 70% among members of Generation X.
The idea that benefits will disappear altogether is one of the biggest Social Security myths, but it’s grounded in truth. Specifically, the Social Security Administration estimates that without Congressional intervention, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund—which is responsible for Social Security benefits to retired workers and their families—could be depleted by 2033. However, at that point, continued income from taxes would be enough to still pay out 77% of total scheduled benefits.
So, Social Security won’t disappear, but everyone’s benefits could be reduced. And if your gut tells you that Washington won’t intervene before then, it might make sense to collect as much as you can, while you can.
However, Congress could come up with a solution, whether that’s finding a way to increase Social Security revenues (like hiking taxes), bumping up the minimum collection age, or another method. If that happens, and if you choose to start Social Security before FRA, you’d be saddled with those lesser benefits for life.
Related: 10 Common Social Security Mistakes You Should Know
5. Will My Spouse or I Claim Spousal Benefits?
Married individuals sometimes have a choice between collecting their own Social Security benefit or Social Security spousal benefits. If one half of the couple has earned a significantly larger benefit than the other, it’s possible the lower-earning spouse might receive a higher spousal benefit than what they would qualify to earn on their own.
The maximum spousal benefit amount is half (50%) of the amount the other spouse is eligible to receive when they reach their FRA. The spousal benefit doesn’t increase if you delay receiving benefits, nor if your spouse waits and earns delayed retirement credits. Put differently: If you’ve reached your FRA and want to collect 50% of your spouse’s benefit, there is no advantage to delaying any longer.
All of this is to say that your Social Security claim timing might also pivot around your spouse’s Social Security situation (and vice versa).
Related: How to Maximize Social Security Spousal Benefits
6. Will I Be Claiming Survivor Benefits?
You’ll also have timing considerations if you plan on claiming Social Security survivor benefits.
You can file for survivor benefits starting at age 60 (age 50 if you have a disability) if you’re the survivor of another Social Security claimant, you were married for at least nine months before your spouse’s death, and you didn’t remarry before age 60 (age 50 if you have a disability).
Survivor benefit levels also revolve around full retirement age, though the brackets are slightly different.
- Born between 1945 and 1956: 66
- Born in 1957: 66 and 2 months
- Born in 1958: 66 and 4 months
- Born in 1959: 66 and 6 months
- Born in 1960: 66 and 8 months
- Born in 1961: 66 and 10 months
- Born in 1962 or later: 67
If you collect survivor benefits anytime between age 60 and just before you reach FRA, you’ll receive between 71% and 99% of your spouse’s benefit. If you retire at FRA or later, you’ll receive 100%. (Note: If at some point your own retirement benefits would be higher than your survivor benefits, you can switch from survivor benefits and elect to take your own.)
Also: Surviving spouses of any age will receive 75% if they’re raising any children under age 16 that they had with their spouse. Surviving children receive 75%, too. But there is a family benefit maximum of between 150% to 180% of the deceased parent’s full benefit. If a family’s benefits would exceed that cap, the surviving spouse and children’s benefits would be proportionately reduced to reach that maximum.
Related: When Should You Take Social Security?
7. Will I Have Enough Income in Retirement?
This is arguably the most important question—after all, the bottom line is the bottom line.
If you expect to be heavily dependent on Social Security at whatever point you retire, you would likely benefit from delaying Social Security to both maximize your benefit and to give yourself more time to try to save into a retirement account.
Conversely, if you have a sizable nest egg that a financial analysis shows can provide everything you need for a very long retirement, you’d have more freedom to start collecting benefits whenever you want.
There might be other considerations, too. For instance, let’s say you had a good-but-not-great level of savings that you expected to carry you through retirement starting at age 67, but you’re laid off at age 62. Tapping into your retirement savings early might significantly hinder the chances your nest egg survives as long as you do. So in that situation, it might make sense to take Social Security early.
If you do, and if you happen to find another job within 12 months of collecting your first Social Security payment, you can apply to withdraw your benefits. (However, you would have to repay any monthly retirement benefits, any benefits your family collected, and any money withheld from your payments.)
If more than a year has passed since your first payment, you can’t withdraw benefits … but once you reach FRA, you can suspend Social Security, which allows you to earn delayed retirement credits (permanently boosting your benefits once you resume collecting checks). Better still? You don’t have to repay any of your previous benefits.
Importantly: If you don’t already have your retirement plan mapped out, and you’re not sure what your retirement income situation will look like, those are tasks you need to tackle sooner rather than later. A professional financial advisor can evaluate your income, savings, and retirement needs, draw out a roadmap, and guide you along the way.
Want to talk more about your financial goals or concerns? Our services include comprehensive financial planning, investment management, estate planning, taxes, and more! Schedule a call with Riley to discuss what you need, and what we can do for you.
