Maximize Social Security Benefits Calculator
Compare two Social Security claiming ages to see how benefits received—or benefits received and reinvested—accumulate through a selected age.
Scenario 1 accumulated value
Scenario 2 accumulated value
Difference at comparison age
Accumulated Social Security Benefits
View year-by-year comparison
| Age | Scenario 1 | Scenario 2 | Difference (2 − 1) |
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Illustrative comparison using constant annual benefits in today's purchasing power. Assumes payments are received at year-end, with any reinvestment return applied to previously received benefits. Does not account for taxes, spousal/survivor benefits, future work, benefit adjustments, or mortality probabilities. Actual Social Security payments are monthly. Benefits can be obtained from my Social Security.
Find the Social Security Strategy That Fits Your Retirement Plan
With WealthTrace, compare Social Security claiming strategies alongside your investments, taxes, withdrawals, and spouse's benefits to see the effect on your complete retirement outlook.
Start a free trialShould you start collecting Social Security at age 62, wait until 67, or delay until 70? The answer can have a significant impact on your retirement income and long-term financial security.
With WealthTrace Retirement Planning Software, you can compare different Social Security claiming strategies and see how they affect your retirement income, taxes, investment withdrawals, and probability of retirement success.
You can also evaluate claiming decisions alongside your spouse's benefits and other retirement income sources.
Start a free trial to see which Social Security strategy works best for your complete retirement plan.
Social Security Break-Even Calculator Definitions
Start Age
The age at which you begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits.
You can generally start collecting at age 62, although your monthly benefit will be lower than if you wait until full retirement age. Delaying benefits can increase your monthly payment until age 70.
Enter a different claiming age for each scenario to compare the results.
First Annual Social Security Benefit
The estimated total Social Security benefits you would receive during your first full year of collecting.
For example, if your monthly benefit is $2,000, enter $24,000.
Enter the estimated annual benefit for each claiming age. You can find your benefit estimates at my Social Security.
Reinvestment Rate
The annual investment return you assume you could earn by investing your Social Security payments instead of spending them.
For example, enter 3% if you want to assume invested benefits grow by 3% annually.
Enter 0% to compare accumulated benefits without investment growth.
Current Age
Your current age. This helps establish when each Social Security claiming scenario begins.
Comparison Age
The age through which you want to compare your accumulated Social Security benefits.
For example, enter 90 to compare the total benefits received under each claiming strategy through age 90.
Break-Even Age
The age at which the accumulated value of benefits from one claiming strategy catches up with or exceeds the other.
For example, claiming at 62 provides payments earlier, while delaying until 70 generally provides larger monthly benefits. The break-even age shows when the higher payments from delaying may offset the benefits you gave up by waiting.
Important Calculator Assumptions
This calculator compares estimated accumulated Social Security benefits based on the claiming ages and benefit amounts you enter.
Results are illustrative and do not fully account for future cost-of-living adjustments, Social
Compare Your Social Security Options
Use WealthTrace to model different claiming ages and compare the benefits you could accumulate.
