Every year, millions of people turn 62 and face the same decision. Take Social Security now, wait for full retirement age, or hold out until 70 for the largest possible check.
Regular readers already know where Clark stands on this. He says: “The odds overwhelmingly show that a lot of us are going to live a lot longer than we thought. So the best time to take Social Security is to wait as long as you possibly can.”
“The largest percentage of people Social Security-eligible start taking Social Security at 62 than at any other age,” Clark says. “Almost no one, from a financial standpoint, should take Social Security at age 62.”
And of course there are ways to calculate how long you would have to live to collect more by waiting.
A Simpler Way to Look At It
Wes Moss, a fiduciary financial advisor and host of Ask an Advisor on the Clark Howard Podcast, agrees with the math but widens that short list of exceptions into a full framework.
“My rule of thumb is simple,” Wes says. “Take Social Security when you NEED the money, not when a YouTuber says to take it, and not when a calculator says to maximize it.”
The math behind delaying is real. Waiting to claim adds roughly 7 to 8 percent to your benefit for every year you hold off, up to age 70. That’s a guaranteed, government-backed, inflation-adjusted return that nothing in the market can match without taking on risk. Wes doesn’t dispute any of that.
“Yes, that guaranteed 7 to 8 percent annual bump for delaying is hard to beat. It’s risk-free, government-backed, and inflation-adjusted for life. But the math isn’t the whole story.”
What the Calculators Leave Out
A Social Security breakeven calculator treats this decision as an isolated math problem. Real retirements don’t work that way. Wes points to five factors that matter as much as the delay credit, sometimes more.
Are you still working? Claiming before full retirement age while earning significant income triggers the earnings test, which can withhold part of your benefit. It also raises your adjusted gross income, which can make more of your benefit taxable. For most people who are still working, waiting until full retirement age is the right choice regardless of how the longevity math works out.
Does claiming early protect your portfolio? If starting benefits at 62 or 63 lets you lower your withdrawal rate from your retirement accounts from an aggressive 7 percent to a sustainable 4 percent, that’s a genuine win. A portfolio that survives 30 years of withdrawals is worth more than a larger Social Security check down the road.
Are you the higher-earning spouse? This one gets missed constantly. Delaying to 70 doesn’t just grow your own benefit; it locks in a larger survivor benefit for your spouse for the rest of their life. This decision often shouldn’t be made by looking at one person’s numbers in isolation.
What does your health and family history look like? Someone whose parents both passed away in their early 70s has good reason to consider “enjoying the money sooner” than someone from a family of centenarians. Longevity assumptions built into a calculator are averages. Your family isn’t an average.
How much does cash-flow stress cost you? Some people sleep better with guaranteed income sooner, even when the spreadsheet says waiting nets more lifetime dollars. That peace of mind is a legitimate part of the equation, even if it never shows up in a breakeven calculator.
The Rule, Restated
Wes sums up the alternative to chasing the biggest possible number:
“Take Social Security when your plan needs the money, based on your income, your spouse’s needs, your withdrawal rate, your health, your longevity, your cash flow, your stress level, and your retirement timeline. Make it part of a real retirement plan, not a guess. That’s how you optimize Social Security.”
The distinction he’s drawing is between optimization and maximization. Maximizing means chasing the single largest possible benefit, which almost always means waiting until 70. Optimizing means figuring out what your specific retirement actually needs, then claiming on the timeline that supports that plan.
For some people, those two things point in the same direction. For many others, they don’t. The best Social Security decision isn’t the one that produces the biggest monthly check —it’s the one that gives your overall retirement plan the greatest chance of succeeding.
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