Social Security benefits can be claimed at any age between 62 and 70. Starting earlier will get you smaller checks but many more of them, while delaying your claim will beef up your checks, though you'll receive fewer of them. The decision of when to start collecting your Social Security benefits is a big one, and you'll want to put a lot of thought into it.
Many people start collecting early, and lots of them need to -- due to a job loss or health setback or simply because they need the income for any reason. It can be smart to start early if you stand a decent chance of living a shorter-than-average life, too.
For most folks, however, the best strategy is to wait until age 70, if you can.
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How much will you collect if you wait until age 70? It all depends on your earnings history, which is fed into Social Security's benefit calculator. You can try to do the math yourself, but the easiest way to get an answer is to set up a my Social Security account at the Social Security Administration (SSA) website. Doing so will allow you to pop into your account at any time to see the latest estimates of your future benefits -- depending on when you start collecting.
Know, though, that the average benefit for those aged 70 was $1,963 as of December 2022, as per the most recent data provided by the Social Security Administration. That's about $23,500 per year.
Remember, though, that there are also cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in most years. For 2023, the COLA was 3.2%, which would have boosted that benefit to $2,026 -- or about $24,300 annually. Those are just averages, though. Your own benefit might be higher or lower, depending on your earnings history.
