Here’s Why Dave Ramsey Thinks You Should Claim Social Security at 62

Is 62 the right age to claim Social Security? Dave Ramsey thinks so. The finance guru has made his position clear to callers on his podcast, and the Ramsey Solutions blog lays out the same argument in writing.

Ramsey’s advice to claim Social Security retirement at the earliest eligible age runs against the grain. Most experts recommend delaying your claim as long as you can. So why does Ramsey take a different stance? He has shared two main reasons.

1. Ramsey believes you can invest the money and earn better returns

On one podcast where a caller asked when to claim, Ramsey suggested starting benefits at 62 for an unconventional reason: invest the money immediately. The theory is that by putting Social Security checks into equity-focused mutual funds, you can earn more over time than you would by leaving the benefit alone to grow through delayed credits.

Delaying a claim does increase your monthly check. For each month you wait beyond age 62, your benefit grows, either because you avoid the early-filing penalty that applies before your full retirement age (FRA), or because you earn delayed retirement credits for every month you wait beyond FRA. Claiming at 62 with an FRA of 67 triggers a permanent 30% reduction in your monthly benefit. In 2026, the maximum monthly benefit at age 62 is $2,969, compared to $4,152 at full retirement age and $5,181 if you wait until 70.

Those guaranteed increases are real, but Ramsey argues you can outpace them. As he wrote on the Ramsey Solutions blog: “You can do a much better job investing that money than the government ever could.”

2. Ramsey also believes you shouldn’t risk missing out on benefits

Ramsey’s second argument centers on mortality risk. Your Social Security checks stop when you die, so the longer you wait to start collecting, the more you are betting on a long life. If you delay your claim and die before your first check arrives, you walk away with nothing from the system you paid into for decades.

Even if you do collect some checks, Ramsey warns that dying before your larger delayed benefit makes up for the income you skipped is a real possibility. He gives the example of someone who claimed at 70 and died at 77 and a half. If that person had a standard benefit of $1,050 at FRA, delaying to 70 would have boosted the payment to $1,860, while claiming at 62 would have reduced it to $1,500 with an FRA of 67. The delayed filer got a bigger monthly check, but not enough to offset eight years of $1,500 payments that were never collected.

Is Ramsey right?

Ramsey is correct that not everyone reaches the break-even point on a delayed claim. Actuarial calculations put that crossover at roughly age 78 to 78.5 for someone comparing a claim at 62 versus FRA. For the investor who truly does put every early check to work in diversified equities, the math might work in their favor, at least in a strong market.

The counterarguments are substantial, however. Americans who reach age 65 can expect to live about 19.7 more years on average, putting their expected lifespan well into their mid-80s, comfortably past the break-even age. Investing Social Security income also requires real discipline and carries market risk, while the benefit boost from delaying is guaranteed and inflation-adjusted. Early filers who continue working face an additional complication: in 2026, the Social Security earnings test withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480 if you are under FRA, which can shrink checks further before the penalty disappears at full retirement age.

There is also a new layer of uncertainty worth weighing. The 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, released in June 2026, projects that the OASI trust fund will be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, one quarter earlier than last year’s forecast. At that point, incoming payroll tax revenue would cover only about 78% of scheduled benefits unless Congress acts. That shortfall risk cuts both ways in the Ramsey debate. A smaller benefit locked in at 62 is even harder to absorb if across-the-board cuts follow a decade later.

Ultimately, your health, your savings, your investment discipline, and your household income needs all factor into the right claiming age. A financial advisor can help you model each scenario, and the decision is worth that investment of time: your choice of claiming age affects your income for the rest of your life.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report projection that the OASI trust fund is now projected to be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, paying only 78% of scheduled benefits at that time, as well as current 2026 maximum monthly benefit figures of $2,969 at age 62, $4,152 at full retirement age, and $5,181 at age 70, and the 2026 earnings test limit of $24,480 for early claimers who continue working.