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Claim at 62, 67, or 70 — which one actually pays more?

Most Social Security content stops at "delaying pays more." This calculator shows exactly how much more, in your own numbers — including the survivor-benefit math that changes the answer for couples. Drop it into your own article in one script tag, and it looks like it was built for your site, not bolted onto it.

Sibling of <retirement-calc-age> — same engine family, different question.

Full explanation: Social Security Claiming Age →

See it in context

Here's exactly what that looks like — a live instance embedded inside a sample article, using someone else's fonts and colors, not ours.

claimsmart.co/blog/claim-62-67-70-social-security-timing

Social Security Strategy · 7 min read

Should You Claim Social Security at 62, 67, or 70?

Claim Smart
Social Security claiming strategy

It's the single most consequential, and most permanently misunderstood, decision in retirement planning. Claim too early and you lock in a smaller check for the rest of your life. Wait too long on the wrong assumptions and you leave money on the table you'll never get back. There's a real answer — it just requires actual math, not a rule of thumb.

The guaranteed raise nobody else offers

For every year you delay past Full Retirement Age up to 70, your benefit grows by roughly 8% — permanently, and adjusted for inflation every year after. There is no other lever in a retirement plan, no investment, no bond, that hands you a guaranteed, government-backed 8% annual increase simply for waiting. Claiming at 62 instead of 70 doesn't just mean a smaller check — it can mean a check worth 75% of what it would have been.

Why "breakeven age" is the wrong question

Most claiming-age content reduces this to a breakeven calculation: add up smaller-early-checks versus bigger-late-checks and find the crossover age, usually somewhere in the late 70s. That framing misses the point. Social Security isn't an investment you're trying to maximize — it's longevity insurance you're trying to size correctly. The real question isn't "when do I come out ahead on average," it's "how much guaranteed income do I want protecting me if I live well past average."

A bigger check at 85 is worth more than the math implies — it's the one income source that can never run out and never gets cut in a bad market.

The number that changes for couples

In a household, claiming age isn't really two separate decisions — it's one, because survivor benefits carry forward the larger of the two checks. Very often the right move is for the lower earner to claim earlier for cash flow, while the higher earner delays to 70, locking in the largest possible check as protection for whichever spouse lives longer. Optimizing each spouse's claim age independently, without accounting for the survivor, is one of the most common — and expensive — claiming mistakes.

Try it with your own numbers

Adjust the sliders to the right — current age, FRA benefit, life expectancy, and (for households) your spouse's numbers — and watch the strategy comparison respond instantly. No signup, and nothing entered leaves the browser.

Try it

That's the exact <retirement-calc-ss> widget, unmodified — same script tag, same math as the full app. See the full picture → · Jump to the embed code ↓

For developers

Everything below is for embedding this calculator on your own site — integration code, theming, and events.

Live demos

Default (single, defaults)

Themed (orange accent, household, pre-seeded)

Preview your theme

Pick colors that match your site, then copy the CSS snippet at the bottom.

Theme colors

Accent color Big number, slider thumb, CTA button

#4f8ec9

Card background Outer surface of the calc

#ffffff

Inner surface Result area + toggle background

#f7f9fc

Text color Title, slider values, result subline

#1a1f2e

retirement-calc-ss {
  --rc-accent: #4f8ec9;
  --rc-bg: #ffffff;
  --rc-surf: #f7f9fc;
  --rc-text: #1a1f2e;
}

Integration code

Drop this into your HTML:

<script src="https://app.retirementscenario.com/embed/v1/ss.js"></script>

<retirement-calc-ss></retirement-calc-ss>

Or pre-seed values relevant to your audience:

<retirement-calc-ss
  plan-type="household"
  current-age="62"
  fra-benefit="2800"
  life-expectancy="92"
  spouse-current-age="60"
  spouse-fra-benefit="2200"
  spouse-life-expectancy="94">
</retirement-calc-ss>

Attributes

Attribute	Default	Range
`plan-type`	single	`single` or `household`
`current-age`	60	50 – 80
`fra-benefit`	2500	500 – 6000 (your monthly SS benefit at Full Retirement Age — read this from your SSA statement)
`life-expectancy`	90	70 – 100 (the longer you live, the more delaying wins)
`spouse-current-age`	58	50 – 80 (household only)
`spouse-fra-benefit`	1800	500 – 6000 (household only — your spouse's SSA-statement number)
`spouse-life-expectancy`	92	70 – 100 (household only)
`refsrc`	(none)	partner attribution tag

Honest scope: Assumes Full Retirement Age 67 (born 1960+). Spousal 50% benefit (non-working spouse) not modeled — assumes both spouses have own earning records. SS taxation not included. Lifetime SS in today's dollars. Survivor benefit math embedded for household — when first spouse dies, survivor keeps the larger of own benefit or deceased's adjusted benefit.

Theming

Override CSS custom properties on the host:

retirement-calc-ss {
  --rc-accent: #ff6b35;    /* primary color */
  --rc-bg: #ffffff;        /* card background */
  --rc-surf: #f7f9fc;      /* sub-surface (result area) */
  --rc-text: #1a1f2e;
  --rc-muted: #6a7280;
  --rc-border: rgba(20,30,50,0.10);
  --rc-radius: 12px;
}

Events

The element emits two custom events you can listen to:

document.querySelector('retirement-calc-ss')
  .addEventListener('rc-calculated', (e) => {
    console.log('Optimal strategy:', e.detail.optimalStrategy);
    console.log('All strategies:', e.detail.strategies);
    console.log('Breakeven age (single only):', e.detail.breakeven);
  });

document.querySelector('retirement-calc-ss')
  .addEventListener('rc-cta-clicked', (e) => {
    console.log('User clicked CTA to:', e.detail.url);
  });

How it works: SS adjustment math is deterministic (no Monte Carlo needed). The element runs the SSA actuarial formula inline — mirrors ssFormulaAdjust() in the engine that powers RetirementScenario.com. Household mode embeds survivor benefit math. No data ever leaves the user's browser.