Informational purposes only, not financial advice — always do your own research. See our full legal disclosure for details.
Social Security Benefits: When and How to Claim Yours
When you claim can change your monthly check for the rest of your life. Learn how Social Security benefits work and choose the claiming age that fits your plan.
Understand the Rules Before You Claim
Our complete Social Security guide explains how benefits are calculated, how your full retirement age works and what happens if you claim early or delay. It also covers spousal and survivor benefits, the earnings test and when Social Security taxes may apply to your benefits.
Compare Claiming Strategies and Tools
Our practical claiming strategy comparison shows how claiming at different ages changes your lifetime income. It also compares the best Social Security calculator tools so you can run your own numbers.
Six Retirees, Six Claiming Decisions
Health, savings and marital status all shaped their choices. Read their stories. Each has a dedicated page showing their situation, their problems and why they claimed when they did.
By Jozsef Huszar • Updated: September 16, 2026 Social Security claiming age can change a monthly check for life, so here is how one daughter learned enough to help her parents decide. Harriet is years away from thinking seriously free-stock-screener-and-financial-insights her own Social Security. But her parents are right in the middle of their claiming…
By Jozsef Huszar • Updated: September 16, 2026 Spousal Social Security benefits could mean a bigger monthly check. Here’s how Shirley checked, and how you can find out whether divorced-spouse or survivor benefits apply to you too. Shirley has been receiving Social Security for a while now. The check arrives, it fits into her monthly…
By Jozsef Huszar • Updated: September 16, 2026 When to claim Social Security is one of the few retirement decisions you can’t easily undo. Here’s how claiming at 62, 67, or 70 changes your check, and how Donald weighed the breakeven age against his own life. Donald has run the numbers in his head more…
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. We may receive compensation from our partners when you click on links or apply for products featured here; this does not influence our editorial opinions or ratings. For complete terms, see our full legal disclosure.
