At what age should you claim Social Security?
As you may know, you can start benefits at any point between age 62 and 70. For each year that you wait, you’ll of course give up a year of benefits. But your benefit will also increase, by about 8% for each year that you wait. And that increase applies for life. For that reason, in the absence of known health issues, I generally recommend delaying until age 70.
But there is at least one situation in which it does not make sense to wait until 70: If you are married and are the lower-earning spouse, your spousal benefit may be larger than the benefit based on your own earning record. If that’s the case, then you’ll certainly want to claim the larger spousal benefit. But keep in mind that spousal benefits do not continue increasing beyond one’s full retirement age.
