Retirement planners routinely urge Americans to wait until age 70 to claim Social Security.
Most Americans have other plans.
The longer you wait to claim, the larger your monthly checks — a financial incentive that keeps growing until you reach age 70.
All else equal, economists say, a retiree of average longevity will reap the most money from Social Security by waiting until 70.
But few Americans plan to wait that long.
A new retirement survey from Schroders, the global asset management company, finds that 45% of not-yet-retired Americans plan to file for Social Security before age 67, which the federal agency considers full retirement age.
Only 10% of nonretired Americans plan to wait until 70, when they can collect the maximum monthly benefit.
Those figures aren’t surprising, given the recent history of the retirement trust fund. The most popular age for claiming Social Security is 62, the first year it becomes available to most retirees, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
There’s an obvious appeal to claiming Social Security early: It’s money. And many retirees feel too financially stretched to go without it.
Why Americans Claim Social Security Early
In the Schroders survey, respondents gave three big reasons for claiming the benefit before age 70:
- “I will need the money earlier for regular income,” cited by 45% of nonretirees
- “I want access to the money as soon as possible,” cited by 43%
- “I’m concerned Social Security may run out of money or stop making payments,” cited by 40%.
The rush to claim Social Security early concerns retirement experts, because retirees who take the benefit early receive markedly smaller monthly checks.
“Individuals are making those decisions based on current cash-flow needs in retirement and uncertainty, rather than maximizing their lifetime benefits,” said Deb Boyden, head of U.S. defined contribution at Schroders.
Two factors may be weighing on workers who plan to take Social Security early, Boyden said.
One is inflation: Prices have risen by roughly 30% since the start of the decade, federal data shows.
The other is unease about the future of Social Security. The federal program faces a funding shortfall by 2032. If Congress fails to act, retirees could see benefits cut.
Fear of Future Cuts Is Already Affecting Claims
Fear about Social Security’s future is already driving many retirees to claim the benefit early.
New Social Security claims rose dramatically in the first half of fiscal year 2025, the Urban Institute found, suggesting that retirees are claiming the benefit early.
Related research by AARP found that half of Americans who claimed Social Security in the past year, or planned to, were motivated by reports that the program faces insolvency.
Both groups found the trend concerning, because early claimers reap smaller checks.
“This is a lifetime decision,” said Joel Eskovitz, senior director of Social Security and savings at the AARP Public Policy Institute, speaking in the AARP report. “If you don’t have any other retirement income, that can be really devastating.”
The Schroders retirement survey reached 1,500 investors ages 30 to 79 in March and April.
How Early Claims Can Affect Retirement Income
In the survey, 52% of nonretired Americans said they were concerned about outliving their assets.
Outliving your money consistently ranks among the nation’s foremost retirement concerns, and with good reason. People are living longer. Inflation is running high. The costs of health care and long-term care are rising.
But claiming Social Security early, economists say, could put more financial stress on a retiree because of the smaller monthly checks.
One scholarly paper found that the typical retiree who claims before 70 loses $182,370 in potential Social Security income.
Most nonretirees surveyed by Schroders said they understood they would reap smaller checks if they claimed Social Security early.
“The data is telling us that this is not primarily a knowledge problem,” Boyden said. “They understand that if they wait, they can get more benefits.”
What Other Surveys Say About Social Security
Other recent surveys have also found heightened anxiety about the fate of Social Security.
In an August survey, the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts asked its network to report on what clients were saying about possible cuts to the federal program.
Their findings:
- Nearly three-quarters of analysts said their clients “want to claim early, before benefits change.”
- More than half of analysts said their clients “doubt Congress will fix” the program.
- Only 9.5% of analysts said their clients “believe Congress will protect” Social Security from benefit cuts.
When analysts asked clients about delaying Social Security in order to maximize lifetime income, this is how clients responded:
- 41% said they prefer to claim early because of “uncertainty” about Social Security funding.
- 24% said they worried they would not live long enough to make it worthwhile.
- 20% said they needed the money sooner, despite the smaller checks.
- Only 13% said they were open to claiming Social Security later.
Will Social Security Really Run Out of Money?
Much of the fear about Social Security’s insolvency is founded on misconceptions, said Martha Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts.
“Every year you hear about people claiming early,” she said. “It’s very sad, because it’s all based on a misunderstanding of how the program works.”
For example, many Americans wrongly believe that if Congress doesn’t act to save Social Security, benefit payments will cease.
In fact, when the reserve runs out, if Congress does not intervene, the federal agency will have sufficient funds to pay about 83% of full retirement benefits, according to an estimate from AARP.
There’s a big difference between 83% and zero, but many Americans don’t see it.
“And that’s if nothing at all is done,” Shedden said.
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