The age at which you decide to begin Social Security has a huge impact on the outcome of your retirement, and it is not a decision you should take lightly.
Often it helps to follow the wisdom of the crowd, so to speak, when weighing a difficult decision. Adding everyone’s decisions together and taking the average can often inform you of the best choice for the future.
So it’s worth considering the average age at which people file for Social Security and the monthly benefit they receive. They can shed some light on the key factors you should consider in your own decision to file, and whether you should follow the crowd or forge your own path in retirement.
This Is the Average Age Americans Start Claiming Social Security
The age at which you qualify for Social Security hasn’t changed since the program began. You can start claiming retirement benefits at any age, starting at age 62. But more and more Americans are waiting longer to claim their benefits.
In 2008, the average retiree claimed benefits at age 63.6 for both men and women. Ten years later, the average claiming age rose by about a year to 64.7 for men and 64.6 for women. That age continues to rise.
The explanation for the increase in claim age is simple: the program has changed.
In 1983, Congress passed a law that began the process of raising the full retirement age, or FRA. That’s the age at which you’re eligible to receive your full Social Security benefits. The FRA rose from 65 to 66 around the turn of the century. It’s currently in the process of changing from 66 to 67.
Raising the full retirement age encourages people to wait longer to claim benefits, because the penalties for claiming early are harsher. Someone with a full retirement age of 67 will only receive 70% of their full benefit if they claim at age 62. By comparison, someone with a full retirement age of 65 will receive 80%. In other words, there is much more to be gained by delaying benefits today.
For example, we saw the average retirement age rise to 65 for men and 64.9 for women in 2022 (the most recent data from the Social Security Administration).
This is the average amount retirees receive when they file for benefits
The average new retirement benefit in 2022 was $1,938.75. Those retirees took advantage of two substantial cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in 2023 and 2024, and they are now receiving an average benefit of $2,174.86.
That only applies to people who filed for their first pension benefit in 2022. The average pension benefit in July was lower, at $1,871.09, or $1,919.40 if you exclude people filing for spousal or child benefits.
It’s reasonable to expect that anyone who files earlier than average will receive a lower-than-average benefit, but you might be surprised to learn that even those who wait until age 65 received a lower-than-average benefit. The average 65-year-old who filed for Social Security in 2022 received just $1,874.56 per month. That’s 3.3% below average.
That discrepancy points to a couple of factors. First, people who claim early tend to have lower career earnings than people who delay their benefits. That’s reflected in their primary insurance amounts, which are based largely on average career earnings. Someone with a lower income likely couldn’t save as much for retirement, increasing their need for supplemental income.
Second, the benefit of deferral accelerates over time. For people with a full retirement age of 67, their benefit increases by 5/12 of a percent of their full retirement benefit for every month they defer from age 62 to 64. For the next three years, their benefit increases by 5/9 of a percent per month. And for the three years after their full retirement age, they can receive a 2/3 of a percent increase in their benefit for every month they defer. The accelerating curve shifts the average benefit higher than the average claiming age.
Should you follow the wisdom of the crowd?
Age 65 is often considered the standard retirement age. It’s the original age at which you were eligible for full retirement benefits. It’s also the age at which you become eligible for Medicare, which makes it easier to leave your job and the employer-sponsored health insurance that comes with it.
But sticking to the age of 65 when it comes to claiming retirement benefits can be a big mistake for many retirees.
If you have been consistently saving and investing for retirement and have built up enough in your accounts to retire comfortably, it will likely work to your advantage to delay your benefits until at least full retirement age. Typically, you will maximize your lifetime Social Security income by delaying until age 70.
Your lifetime Social Security income is a function of your lifespan, and life expectancy data from the CDC indicates that most people who live to age 62 will live long enough to receive more in benefits over their lifetime by waiting until age 70. So unless you have good reason to expect your lifespan to be shorter than that of the average retiree, you should hold off as long as possible.
A 2019 study from United Income backs up the CDC data. It found that the majority of retirees would maximize their wealth in retirement by waiting until age 70 to claim their benefits. The next-best age, 67, would only maximize wealth for about 10% of retirees in the study. Only 8% were better off claiming their benefits before age 65.
Following the wisdom of the crowd for a decision like Social Security won’t work for most Americans. That’s because the decision is based on multiple factors, not just maximizing your lifetime income from Social Security. Think about your personal circumstances and whether you can afford to optimize or whether you’d be better off taking a smaller benefit early.
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This Is the Average Age Americans Start Filing for Social Security and the Monthly Benefit They Receive was originally published by The Motley Fool
