Social Security Break-Even Calculator
At what age does waiting to claim Social Security pay off, once the early checks are invested? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form to fill in.
2026 law · Reviewed September 6, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · the terms · All tools
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The full-retirement-age benefit, the birth year, two claiming ages, and the return the early checks earn; out: the break-even age with and without that return, and the two accumulated values crossing. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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- In plain words.
- Start Social Security early and you collect smaller checks for more years; wait and you collect larger checks for fewer. The break-even age is where the totals cross. Most calculators stop there. This one also lets you assume the early checks were invested, which pushes the crossing later, because money in hand can grow.
- Why it matters.
- The plain break-even age flatters waiting. Adding a return on the early checks gives a fairer answer, and shows how sensitive the decision is to what your money earns.
- An example.
- Comparing a start at 62 with a start at 70, with the early checks earning nothing, the totals cross at about 80 and 4 months. Give the early checks a four percent return and the crossing moves several years later.
- Where it stops.
- It uses today's dollars, one person, and whole-year claiming ages. It ignores the earnings test if you keep working, tax, and benefits for a spouse or survivor.
The facts
Six quotable sentences, for a full retirement age of 67 (born 1960 or later). The break-even ages do not depend on the size of the benefit.
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- Counting the checks alone, claiming at 70 instead of 62 breaks even at 80 and 4 months; claiming at 67 instead of 62 breaks even at 78 and 8 months; 70 instead of 67 at 82 and 6 months.
- If every early check is invested and earns 4 percent a year, the 62-versus-70 break-even moves to 86 and 6 months; at 6 percent it moves to 95 and 2 months. That gap is the opportunity cost of waiting.
- At 4 percent the 62-versus-67 break-even is 84 and 11 months and the 67-versus-70 break-even is 88 and 8 months: each step of waiting has its own crossing.
- The break-even age is the same whatever the benefit is, because both claims scale with the same full-retirement-age amount; a $1,000 benefit and a $4,000 benefit cross at the same age.
- A cost-of-living increase applies to both claims alike and barely moves the crossing; the assumed return moves it by years. The return is the assumption to argue about.
- The rules behind the two benefits are fixed: five-ninths of a percent a month for the first 36 months early, five-twelfths beyond, and two-thirds of a percent a month late until 70 (20 CFR 404.410 and 404.313).
Break-even ages by assumed return
Three claiming pairs against four returns: the whole opportunity-cost argument in one table.
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| Claiming ages | 0% return | 2% return | 4% return | 6% return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 vs 67 | 78 and 8 months | 81 | 84 and 11 months | 93 and 8 months |
| 67 vs 70 | 82 and 6 months | 84 and 10 months | 88 and 8 months | 97 and 3 months |
| 62 vs 70 | 80 and 4 months | 82 and 8 months | 86 and 6 months | 95 and 2 months |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "Social Security Break-Even Calculator," reviewed September 6, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator.
Link to a section
- The calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator#facts
- Break-even by return https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator#key-numbers
- How the crossing works https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator#how-it-works
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/social-security-break-even-calculator#revision-history
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