Social Security Basics
Learn how Social Security benefits work, when to claim, and how timing affects your lifetime income — then compare what claiming at 62, full retirement age, or 70 would mean for your monthly check.
How Benefits Work
Understand where your benefit comes from — your highest 35 years of earnings, the formula that turns them into a monthly amount, what your full retirement age is, and how spousal and survivor benefits fit in.
Read the GuideCompare Claiming Ages
Enter your benefit from your Social Security statement — or estimate it from your income — and see your monthly amount at every age from 62 to 70, the break-even point between claiming early and waiting, and a spousal and survivor illustration.
Compare Claiming AgesSocial Security at a Glance
Social Security replaces part of your working income for as long as you live, and the age you start it permanently changes the amount. There is no single right answer — the trade-off depends on your health, your other income, and how long you live.
Where Your Benefit Comes From
Your highest 35 years of earnings are indexed to today's wage levels and averaged into a monthly figure. A three-bracket formula converts that into your benefit at full retirement age.
Your Full Retirement Age
Between 66 and 67, depending on the year you were born. Anyone born in 1960 or later has a full retirement age of 67. This is the age your benefit is measured from.
The Claiming Window
You can start any time from 62 to 70. Claiming before your full retirement age permanently reduces the monthly amount; each month you wait past it, up to 70, permanently increases it.
Spousal & Survivor Benefits
A spouse can receive up to half of the other spouse's full-retirement-age benefit. When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the higher of the two checks — so the higher earner's timing also shapes the survivor's income.