Social Security break-even calculator
Your break-even age is when a later, larger Social Security check catches up in total dollars with an earlier, smaller one. Enter your estimated monthly amounts at two claiming ages (both are on your SSA statement) and see the month waiting pays off, free, with nothing sent to any server.
Enter your estimated monthly check at each age and your break-even age appears here. Both numbers are on your Social Security statement. Or Whenwise computes every month from 62 to 70 from your earnings record, on your iPhone.
Estimates in today’s dollars, before any cost-of-living adjustments; both choices get COLAs, so the crossover moves little. Educational estimate, not financial advice. Everything you type stays in your browser; nothing is sent to any server.
What a break-even age tells you (and what it doesn’t)
Claiming at 62 starts smaller checks sooner; waiting toward 70 starts larger checks later. The break-even age is where the two running totals cross. For a worker born in June 1962 who earned $90,000 last year, Whenwise’s engine puts the 62-versus-70 crossover at age 80 and 4 months. Through age 90, waiting is worth $188,875 more in cumulative benefits ($910,800 versus $721,925, today’s dollars).
A break-even age is a planning aid, not a verdict. It says nothing about your health, your savings, whether a spouse will keep the larger of your two checks someday, or how much you simply need the income now. Treat it as one clear input to a decision that stays yours. And if you’re married, the picture changes enough that it deserves its own explanation.
Where to get your two numbers
Your Social Security statement (free at ssa.gov/myaccount) shows estimated monthly amounts at 62, your full retirement age, and 70. Or let the Whenwise app compute every month from 62 to 70 from your earnings record, on your iPhone, with your break-even age built in. This calculator uses the same math as the app’s engine (2026 rules), tested against it number-for-number.
What is a break-even age? A plain-English guide
Social Security at 62 vs 67 vs 70: real examples
How Whenwise computes every number