Social Security:  Adjustment for Early or Late Retirement  
This calculator is designed to estimate the Social Security payment that will be received if retirement begins prior to full retirement age or is delayed until after full retirement age. See the chart below for the age of full retirement based on the date of birth.  
             
             
Monthly Social Security benefits at full retirement age        
             
        Years Months  
Full retirement age  (max is age 67 – see chart below)    
Age to begin taking Social Security benefits – between ages 62 and 70    
Expected cost of living adjustment per year from FRA to benefits beginning    
             
       
             
To what age do I need to live to "break even" on delayed credits?  
Delayed benefits will be beneficial if the recipient lives long enough for the increased payments, due to the delayed credits, to outweigh the forgone payments during the delayed period.

This number represents the age to which the person needs to live to make it beneficial for them to delay benefits. This is a very basic estimate. There may be reasons to not delay, even if the life expectancy of the person is expected to exceed this age.
    
(note - this does not take into consideration the time value of money or COLAs)      
             
             
Age To Receive Full Social Security Benefits          
(Called "full retirement age" or "normal retirement age.")          
Year of Birth* Full Retirement Age           
1937 or earlier 65          
1938 65 and 2 months          
1939 65 and 4 months          
1940 65 and 6 months          
1941 65 and 8 months          
1942 65 and 10 months          
1943--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 and later 67          
*If you were born on January 1st of any year you should refer to the previous year. (If you were born on the 1st of the month, we figure your benefit (and your full retirement age) as if your birthday was in the previous month.)