By Rodney Cummings, RSSA® | Legacy Wealth Services

“When should I take Social Security?” is the single most common question I hear from clients approaching retirement. And it’s the question that gets the most oversimplified answers.

The truth is: there is no universally right answer. The optimal Social Security claiming age depends on your health, your spouse’s situation, your other income, your tax picture, and what you want your retirement to look like. Anyone who tells you to “always wait until 70” or “always take it as soon as you can” is giving you advice that might work for someone else — not necessarily for you.

As a Registered Social Security Analyst (RSSA®), I’ve run the numbers for hundreds of clients. Here’s what I’ve learned.

The Basics: What Are Your Options?

You can begin claiming Social Security retirement benefits any time between age 62 and 70. The age you choose has a permanent effect on your monthly benefit.

Your Full Retirement Age (FRA) is the benchmark:

Birth Year	Full Retirement Age
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
1960 or later	67

Claiming before your FRA permanently reduces your benefit — by up to 30% if you claim at 62 (for those with an FRA of 67).

Claiming after your FRA permanently increases your benefit — by 8% per year up to age 70. That’s a 24% increase over FRA for those who wait the full three extra years.

The Classic Tradeoff: Early vs. Late

The argument for claiming early: “I’ll get more checks over my lifetime.”

The argument for waiting: “Each check will be significantly larger.”

Both are true. The question is which approach results in more total lifetime income — and that depends largely on how long you live.

Breakeven Analysis: Claiming at 62 vs. 70

Let’s say your benefit at FRA (67) is $2,000/month.

Claim at 62: $1,400/month (30% reduction)
Claim at 67: $2,000/month
Claim at 70: $2,480/month (24% increase over FRA)

If you claim at 62 vs. 70, you collect $1,400/month for 8 more years before the 70-claimer starts receiving benefits. That’s $134,400 head start.

But the 70-claimer receives $1,080 more per month. The breakeven point — where total lifetime benefits equalize — is approximately age 82-83.

The practical question: Do you expect to live past 82-83?

If yes: Waiting likely pays off
If health challenges suggest shorter longevity: Claiming earlier may be better
If you have a spouse: The calculus changes significantly (see below)

The Part Nobody Talks About: Spousal and Survivor Benefits

For married couples, Social Security claiming strategy becomes dramatically more complex — and dramatically more important.

Spousal Benefits

If your spouse has a lower earnings history (or none at all), they may be entitled to up to 50% of your benefit at their FRA. This spousal benefit is based on YOUR benefit amount, which means your claiming decision affects two people.

Example:

High earner’s benefit at FRA (67): $3,000
Spouse’s own benefit: $800
Spouse’s spousal benefit: $1,500 (50% of $3,000)
Spousal benefit wins: +$700/month difference

The longer the high earner waits, the higher both the primary AND spousal benefits — because spousal benefit is calculated as a percentage of the primary earner’s FRA benefit.

Survivor Benefits: The Most Important Factor

Here’s what most people miss: survivor benefits can be the biggest Social Security decision a married couple makes.

When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse keeps only the larger of the two benefits — the smaller benefit disappears. If the higher-earning spouse claimed early (and has a reduced benefit), that reduced amount becomes the survivor benefit for potentially 15-25 years.

This is where the real money is:

High earner waits until 70: $3,720/month (using our example, with delayed credits) High earner claims at 62: $2,100/month

If the high earner dies at 78, the surviving spouse:

In the wait-until-70 scenario: receives $3,720/month for the rest of their life
In the claim-at-62 scenario: receives $2,100/month for the rest of their life

Over a 15-year surviving period, that $1,620/month difference totals $291,600 in additional lifetime benefits — just for waiting.

For married couples, optimizing for the survivor benefit is often the single highest-value financial decision available.

If you claim before your Full Retirement Age and continue working, there’s an earnings limit that reduces your benefit:

2026 Earnings Limit (before FRA): $22,320

If you earn above this, Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 over the limit

In the year you reach FRA: $59,520

Social Security withholds $1 for every $3 over the limit

After FRA: No earnings limit — you can work and collect without any reduction.

Note: Benefits withheld due to the earnings test are NOT lost forever. When you reach FRA, Social Security recalculates your benefit upward to credit the withheld months.

The Tax Picture: Provisional Income

Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits may be subject to federal income tax, depending on your “provisional income” (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + 50% of Social Security benefits).

Provisional Income	Taxable Portion of SS
Below $25,000 (single) / $32,000 (married)	0%
$25,000–$34,000 (single) / $32,000–$44,000 (married)	Up to 50%
Above $34,000 (single) / $44,000 (married)	Up to 85%

This matters for claiming timing because:

Delaying Social Security may reduce the tax bite in early retirement years (when you’re drawing from other sources)
Claiming early may trigger taxation of benefits if you have other income
Roth conversions in the early retirement years (before Social Security) can reduce lifetime tax burden significantly

The “File and Suspend” Era Is Over — What Replaced It

The old “file and suspend” strategy that allowed one spouse to collect spousal benefits while both earned delayed credits was eliminated in 2016. But several valuable strategies remain:

Restricted Application: If you were born before January 2, 1954, you may still be able to file a restricted application for spousal benefits only while letting your own benefit continue to grow. This is one of the last remaining windows for this strategy — if it applies to you, time is running out.

Coordinated Claiming for Couples: Even without file-and-suspend, married couples have multiple options for sequencing their claims to maximize combined lifetime benefits and optimize the survivor benefit.

Divorced Spousal Benefits: If you were married for at least 10 years, you may be entitled to a benefit based on your ex-spouse’s record — even if they’ve remarried. This doesn’t affect their benefit or their current spouse’s benefit.

The RSSA® Analysis: How We Find Your Optimal Strategy

As a Registered Social Security Analyst, I use specialized software that models thousands of claiming scenarios for your specific situation — accounting for:

Your earnings history and projected benefit at each claiming age
Your spouse’s benefit options (if applicable)
Your health profile and actuarial life expectancy
Your other income sources (pensions, investments, part-time work)
Your tax situation and bracket management goals
Survivor benefit optimization
The impact of continued work on your benefit calculation

The output: a personalized Social Security claiming strategy that identifies the approach most likely to maximize your lifetime household benefits.

What a typical analysis uncovers:

The difference between optimal and suboptimal strategies for our average married couple client is $87,000 in lifetime benefits
Single individuals often discover that waiting longer than they expected adds $42,000–$65,000 in lifetime income
Divorced individuals frequently discover survivor or spousal benefit eligibility they didn’t know they had

A personalized analysis makes the most sense if:

✅ You’re within 5 years of your target retirement age ✅ You’re married (the stakes are highest for couples) ✅ You have a pension, significant investment accounts, or other income sources ✅ You’re divorced after a 10+ year marriage ✅ You’re uncertain whether to claim early or late ✅ Your health situation is a factor in your decision

Explore our RSSA® analysis options →

We offer three tiers:

Essential Analysis ($997) — Single individual, comprehensive claiming strategy report
Couples Analysis ($1,897) — Married couple, full optimization including survivor strategies
Complete Strategy Session ($3,997) — Full analysis + 90-minute strategy session + integration with your overall retirement income plan

The Bottom Line

Social Security is likely one of the largest financial assets you own. For most Americans, the total lifetime benefit exceeds $500,000. Optimizing when and how you claim it deserves the same careful analysis you’d give any major investment decision.

The cost of a wrong decision — claiming too early, missing spousal strategies, or failing to optimize the survivor benefit — can easily exceed $50,000–$100,000 over a retirement.

Getting it right starts with getting the right analysis.

Schedule your free Social Security consultation →

Rodney Cummings holds the Registered Social Security Analyst (RSSA®) credential and is an independent insurance and financial advisor licensed in 26 states. This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute personalized financial or tax advice. Consult a qualified advisor for guidance specific to your situation.

When Should You Take Social Security? The Complete RSSA® Guide for 2026