Menu x
open search articles form x
Advertiser and Editorial Disclosures
Retirement Social Security

At What Age Can You Draw Social Security Benefits?

You can start Social Security retirement benefits at 62, while other programs have different rules.

Older couple looking at paperwork
Christy Rakoczy
By Christy Rakoczy
Sarah Fulghum
Edited by Sarah Fulghum
Updated March 3, 2026
Fact check checkmark icon Fact checked

Imagine having the government send you a check for a few thousand dollars every month that reliably shows up in your bank account, even when you don't go to work. That's not a fantasy for millions of Americans — it's the reality of Social Security benefits.

Social Security is one of the single most popular benefit programs in the United States, with 93% of all Americans saying it's valuable, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Not even Taylor Swift gets that type of approval rating.

And it's not surprising everyone loves Social Security as it's collected by seniors from all walks of life, from President Biden to the old guy down the street who yells at the kids to get off his lawn. It's also kept millions more Americans out of poverty than any other program.

If you're counting down the days until you can get your own checks, you may be wondering: What age can I draw Social Security? The simple answer is 62 for most people, but as I'll explain below, there's a lot more to it than that.

Key takeaways
  • You can start Social Security retirement benefits at 62.
  • Other types of benefits, including SSI benefits, SSDI benefits, and survivor benefits, can be started earlier.
  • Starting Social Security early can shrink your monthly benefit and reduce your odds of maximizing lifetime benefits.

What is the youngest age you can draw Social Security?

Some types of Social Security benefits have no minimum age limit. For example:

  • Disabled children could get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration at any age, depending on family resources.
  • Children of any age may be eligible for survivor benefits if their parent(s) died or are on disability.
  • Disabled children could get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) on a parent's work record if their parent is retired, disabled, or deceased.
  • Disabled adults could also potentially get SSI at any age if they have limited financial resources or SSDI at any age once they have worked enough to earn benefits (with work requirements based on age).
  • People whose spouses died could get survivor benefits starting at age 60 or age 50 if disabled or at any age if they're caring for a minor child of someone they were married to for at least nine months.

These special benefits are available only in limited circumstances, though. For most people, the million-dollar question is when they can get Social Security retirement benefits. And the answer to that isn't so straightforward. Here's what the rules say.

  • The youngest age you can claim Social Security retirement benefits is 62 (provided you've earned at least 40 work credits to become eligible for them).
  • You have a full retirement age (FRA), which is the age when you can claim your standard benefit (called your primary insurance amount). FRA is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later.
  • If you claim Social Security before full retirement age, you shrink your primary amount. Benefits decline by 5/9 of 1% for each of the first three years you claim ahead of FRA (adding up to 6.7% annually) and 5/12 of 1% for each prior month (aka 5% annually). That adds up to a 30% reduction with a claim at 62 instead of 67.

There's also Social Security spousal benefits to think about, which are claimed on your spouse's work history. You can claim those starting at 62 as well, but only if the spouse whose work history you're claiming on has started their retirement benefits. Claiming at 62 is still considered an early claim for spousal benefits, so benefits will shrink.

Now, you may not care about reducing benefits if doing so allows you to retire earlier — but the reduction is for life, and an early claim also shrinks survivor benefits if you're the high earner.

You'll give up the chance at maximizing an important source of guaranteed, inflation-protected monthly income with a claim at 62, and (as we'll talk more about later) you'll reduce the odds of maxing out your lifetime benefits.

What's your full retirement age?

As mentioned above, full retirement age is the age you must reach to get your standard benefit. You also need to reach your FRA to be able to work and earn while collecting Social Security without risking some of your benefits temporarily being forfeited if you earn too much.

FRA is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. If you were born before, here's when your FRA is, based on birth year.

  • 1943 to 1954: 66
  • 1955: 66 and 2 months
  • 1956: 66 and 4 months
  • 1957: 66 and 6 months
  • 1958: 66 and 8 months
  • 1959: 66 and 10 months

Lawmakers in the 1960s are responsible for this weird schedule; they pushed FRA later over time to shore up Social Security's financial troubles. When you're working until 67 just to get your full benefit, you can thank Bob Dole and Tip O'Neill.

What is the oldest age you can draw Social Security?

Once you start getting Social Security retirement benefits, you get them for life.

In fact, the very first Social Security recipient, a woman named Ida May Fuller, received the inaugural benefits check on January 31, 1940, and she lived to be 100, so she collected her last one in 1975.

However, you may be wondering if there's an oldest age when you can collect retirement benefits.

  • 70 if you collect retirement benefits
  • Your full retirement age if you collect spousal benefits

See, you earn delayed retirement credits that increase retirement benefits if you wait beyond your FRA. These increase your benefits by ⅔ of 1% per month (8% per year) for each year you wait. So, in exchange for delaying, you get more money later. Since you stop earning those credits at 70, there's no longer any advantage to waiting, so you should claim no later than 70.

If you're earning spousal benefits, you can't earn delayed retirement credits, so there's no benefit to waiting beyond your FRA. You should claim then, if you can.

You do have to wait until your spouse gets their retirement checks, though. If they don't claim their benefits until you're 72 or 75 or 80, you have no choice but to delay your spousal benefits until then (although you could get your own retirement benefits sooner).

What is the best age to draw Social Security?

Since you have an eight-year window when it could make sense to start Social Security, you'll have to figure out the best Social Security age to begin collecting benefits.

For the vast majority of people, it's 70 — and that's the age when I plan to claim my benefits. Waiting until 70 makes good sense because it gives you the best odds of maxing out lifetime benefits. In fact:

  • A 2019 study from United Income revealed that claiming at 70 is best for almost all retirees, and by claiming earlier, the average household leaves $110,000 in benefits on the table.
  • A 2023 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that claiming at 70 is best for over 90% of workers aged 45 to 62, and claiming earlier was costing the median household $182,370 in discretionary spending.

The reason: When the early filing penalties and delayed retirement credits were introduced, actuaries devised them to equalize out lifetime benefits for early and late filers — but they were based on life expectancies at that time. The idea was that if you claimed later and got a higher benefit, you'd die before those higher benefits exceeded the checks you gave up by delaying.

Now, people live a lot longer than they used to, so the odds are very high that if you wait, you will more than break even for an early claim. So, you do better by getting the highest checks you can. I'll be waiting until 70 to get my benefits if I can because these numbers don't lie.

Now, there are some situations when you may want to claim earlier, including:

  • If you are in poor health (likely to die before a delayed claim would pay off) and don't have a surviving spouse who will collect survivor benefits
  • If you have been forced into early retirement and would drain your savings if you don't start checks ASAP (It's better to have smaller Social Security checks and retirement savings than to end up with no savings at all.)

Outside of those circumstances, you should wait if you can — and this usually means saving enough to live on investments alone for a few years so you can retire at a reasonable age and still wait to claim Social Security until 70. This is the path I'm planning on taking.

FAQs

At what age can you draw 100% of your Social Security?

You can collect 100% of your Social Security check at your full retirement age. Your FRA is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later.

Do married couples get two Social Security checks?

Married couples can and often do get two Social Security checks. Each spouse could collect their own retirement benefit, or one spouse could collect their retirement benefit while the other collects spousal benefits.

Can I get Social Security if I never worked?

You can get some types of Social Security if you never worked.

  • If you are disabled and low-income, you could collect Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration, even if you never worked.
  • If you're disabled and collect on a parent's work record as a child, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.
  • If you are married, or divorced after a marriage lasting at least 10 years, you could collect Social Security spousal benefits once your spouse has claimed their own retirement checks.

Bottom line

Now you know all the details on when you can collect Social Security. Make sure you research the kinds of benefits you could be eligible for, and take the time to really think through when to start your payments. Getting that government cash is going to feel pretty good, but waiting until you're 70 to start collecting could have a big payoff.

Of course, chances are good you're not going to do quite as well as Ida May Fuller, who worked for 3 years and paid $24.75 in total Social Security taxes yet collected $22,888.92 in Social Security benefits in her lifetime. Talk about a great return on investment! Since you can't expect that kind of luck, it's best to make a realistic retirement plan and check in on your progress regularly.

Reach Your Savings Goals Faster
SoFi Checking and Savings
5.0
info
Financebuzz awards badge
AWARD WINNER Best Online Checking
SoFi Checking and Savings Benefits
  • Limited-Time Offer: Earn a $50 or $300 bonus with eligible direct deposit and up to 4.00% APY on Savings (3.30% APY1with +0.70% APY Boost) for up to 6 Months on new accounts. Terms Apply.2
  • No account, overdraft, or monthly fees3
  • Get your paycheck up to two days early with direct deposit4
  • Access additional FDIC insurance up to $3 million5
Open an account with SoFi® here

Financebuzz logo

Thanks for subscribing!

Please check your email to confirm your subscription.