Many Americans worry about retiring at the wrong age. Some assume retiring before 65 is a mistake, while others believe working until 70 is the only safe option.
But experts increasingly argue that there isn’t a universal “worst” retirement age. Instead, there may be a worst age to claim Social Security benefits.
The sections below explain what retirees should know before filing so they can maximize their Social Security payments and other senior benefits.
Claiming at 62 triggers a permanent benefit reduction
Age 62 is the earliest age most Americans can claim Social Security retirement benefits.
The catch is that claiming early permanently reduces your monthly benefit. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), workers whose full retirement age is 67 receive a 30% benefit reduction for life if they claim at 62.
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Understand what full retirement age means
Full retirement age, often called FRA, is the age when you’re entitled to your full Social Security retirement benefit.
For Americans born in 1960 or later, FRA is 67. Claiming before that age reduces benefits, while delaying beyond FRA can increase them. Many people mistakenly view 62 as a standard retirement age when it is really just the earliest claiming age.
Delaying can increase your monthly benefit
Social Security rewards workers who wait beyond their full retirement age.
Delayed retirement credits increase benefits by two-thirds of 1% per month, or 8% annually, until age 70. A worker with a full retirement age of 67 can receive a benefit that’s 24% larger by waiting until age 70.
That increase can make a significant difference over a long retirement.
Researchers identified 62 as the worst claiming age
In one study, wealth management firm United Income analyzed millions of claiming decisions and reached a stark conclusion: 62 is the hands-down, single worst age to claim Social Security from a wealth-maximization perspective.
Research concluded that 92% of retirees would have been better off waiting until 65, or later.
Waiting until 67 helps most retirees; holding out to 70 helps more
The United Income research doesn’t outright say holding out to age 70 is best.
However, the overwhelming majority could improve their financial outcomes simply by waiting a few years more.
According to the research, roughly 57% of retirees could have accumulated maximum wealth by delaying their claim until age 70.
Retirement and claiming Social Security are not the same thing
One of the biggest misconceptions about retirement is that leaving work automatically means claiming Social Security.
This leads to rigid thinking and brittle finances.
Americans need to treat retirement age and when to start Social Security benefits as two distinct decisions.
Financial advisors focus less on a specific age and more on whether someone has sufficient savings, income sources, and sense of purpose to support retirement.
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Plan for when things go awry
You’ve been diligently saving and investing, and laid out a plan for how you’ll spend your early- and late-retirement years – but money has a way of fouling up plans.
The 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey found that nearly 50% of retirees retired earlier than planned. Many expect to retire around age 65, but retirees reported a median retirement age of 62.
The ability to draw Social Security benefits, albeit reduced, almost certainly plays a role. If the minimum age for minimum distributions was age 63 or 64, that median age would likely have inched higher.
Life happens. Your wife is 62. She hates her job. Her father’s health begins failing and he needs more help at home. And, turns out, she may need back surgery.
Such scenarios play out every day for 62-year-old Americans. Retiring early can start to look like a light at the end of the tunnel, but reduced benefits for life are a permanent, precarious situation.
Don’t expect to coast to FRA. Plan for how you’ll weather the storms. What resources will you call on for an unexpected job loss or a family member needing in-home care? Put together the plan now, before you need it.
Men retire early; women retire earlier
Americans are retiring earlier than intended, but women are retiring a full two years earlier than men.
Data from the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) found that men retire at an average age of 64.6, while women retire at 62.6. Because Social Security benefits increase for each month claiming is delayed before FRA, retiring earlier generally results in smaller monthly checks.
Claiming age
% of full benefit
Starting monthly benefit
First-year benefit
30-year total with 2.5% annual COLAs
62.0
70%
$1,470
$17,640
$777,527
62.6
72.9%
$1,530.90
$18,370.80
$809,739
64.6
83.9%
$1,761.90
$21,142.80
$931,922
Assuming a full monthly benefit of $2,100 and annual COLAs of 2.5%, a retiree claiming at age 64.6 would receive an estimated $931,922 over 30 years, compared with $809,739 for a retiree claiming at age 62.6. That’s a difference of roughly $122,000.
A familiar pattern plays out. Women earn less during their working years, spend more time out of the workforce for caregiving responsibilities, and accumulate smaller retirement savings balances.
Retiring earlier compounds those disadvantages, resulting in lower Social Security income throughout. Thus, women are out-earned in their working years and then underpaid in retirement. The infamous pay gap never ends.
Why women retire even earlier
The Center for Retirement Research (CRR) notes several key reasons that women claim Social Security earlier.
Age gap is a major driver. The average husband is about 2–3 years older than his wife, and couples frequently coordinate retirement timing.
If a husband retires at FRA of 67, his 63-year-old wife may decide to stop working at the same time so she can join her husband in retirement.
Additionally, women are more likely to drop out of the workforce to — as my husband puts it — “voluntarily solve other people’s burdens that men are perfectly willing to leave unresolved.”
In other words, caregiving. Many women retire early to care for older parents, a spouse with health issues, or grandchildren.
Many men continue working longer because work is a part of their identity and a source of social connection. They generally earn more at the end of their careers and have employer-provided health insurance.
Bottom line
There is no universally “worst” (or “best”) retirement age. People’s finances, health, careers, and family circumstances vary too much for a one-size-fits-all answer.
However, multiple studies point to age 62 as the costliest age to claim Social Security benefits. Claiming at that age can permanently reduce benefits by 30% for workers whose full retirement age is 67, while delaying can substantially increase lifetime income.
Perhaps the most important takeaway is to plan for retirement and Social Security benefits as two separate events. Every month you delay can significantly improve your long-term outlook, and prioritize your own financial well-being ruthlessly.
There are no retirement plan loans. But you can get an extra $100,000+ in “free money” just by being smart about how and when you claim.
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Author Details
Stacy Garrels
Stacy, a writer for FinanceBuzz, enjoys writing about fintech, consumer deals, the side hustle economy, and random tomfoolery. She’s personally tried more than 100 different gigs, including being an Uber driver for one afternoon.
