The Senior Desk · Free · Private
Social Security claiming calculator
A free calculator for the Social Security claiming decision. See your benefit at 62, at full retirement age, and at 70, and the monthly floor your spouse keeps if you go first. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is transmitted, stored, or seen by anyone.
Model your own decision
Your numbers never leave your phone. This runs on your device only. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, saved, or seen by us — there is no place for it to go.
This part needs JavaScript, and it runs entirely on your device — nothing is sent anywhere. If JavaScript is off, the worked examples below show the same figures with real numbers.
Worked examples
These are computed here with real numbers, so they work whether or not the calculator above is running. The one thing you need for your own case is the monthly benefit your statement shows at full retirement age — get it at ssa.gov.
One person, three claiming ages
Say your benefit at full retirement age is $2,000 a month (an example — use your own figure). Claiming earlier or later changes it like this, for three birth years:
| Birth year | At 62 | At full retirement age | At 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Born 1955 (full retirement age 66 and 2 months) | $1,483 | $2,000 | $2,613 |
| Born 1957 (full retirement age 66 and 6 months) | $1,450 | $2,000 | $2,560 |
| Born 1960 (full retirement age 67) | $1,400 | $2,000 | $2,480 |
The earlier column is smaller and the later column is larger by fixed percentages set in law. Neither is "better" on its own — more checks versus larger checks is the trade you are weighing.
A couple: what the survivor keeps
This is the figure that changes the decision, and almost no one is shown it. When one spouse dies, the household keeps the higher of the two benefits — not both. So the amount the higher earner locks in is the amount whoever outlives the other lives on.
Take a couple: the higher earner's benefit at full retirement age is $2,000 a month, the lower earner's is $800. If the lower earner claims at their full retirement age and later outlives the higher earner, here is the monthly floor they keep, depending only on when the higher earner claimed:
| Higher earner's choice | Higher earner's monthly benefit | Monthly floor the survivor keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Higher earner claims at 62 | $1,400 | $1,400 |
| Higher earner claims at full retirement age | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Higher earner claims at 70 | $2,480 | $2,480 |
Read across: the higher earner's claiming age sets the survivor's floor for life. Claiming earlier sets it lower; waiting sets it higher. Framed as a break-even bet, waiting looks like a gamble on living long enough. Framed as the survivor's floor, the same delay looks like insurance for the one left behind. Same arithmetic, two framings — and the choice between them is yours, not ours.
The spousal benefit does not grow past full retirement age
A spousal benefit is worth up to 50% of the worker's full amount, reached at the claiming spouse's full retirement age — and it earns no delayed-retirement credits. Waiting past full retirement age to start a spousal benefit adds nothing to it. That is the one place delaying is pure loss.
Why your numbers are safe here
- The calculator runs inside your own browser. There is no account and no backend.
- Nothing you type is sent over the internet, saved on your device, or recorded by us. When you close the page, it is gone.
- We could not look up your benefit even if we wanted to — only your own Social Security Statement has it. That is why you type it in, and why it stays with you.
Where it bites
We show the trade. You make the call.
— The Senior Desk