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.
His advice to claim at the earliest eligible age runs directly against the mainstream consensus. Most financial experts recommend delaying as long as personal circumstances allow. Two core arguments drive Ramsey’s position, and both are worth understanding before you file.
1. Ramsey believes you can invest the money and earn better returns
On a podcast episode where a caller asked when to claim, Ramsey offered a counterintuitive answer: start at 62 and invest every check immediately. Routing Social Security payments into equity-focused mutual funds, he argued, can build more wealth over time than the guaranteed growth that comes from waiting.
That guaranteed growth is real and substantial. For each month you wait beyond 62, your benefit increases: first by avoiding the early-filing penalty that applies before your full retirement age (FRA), then through delayed retirement credits earned for every month you push past 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 at age 70. These are ceilings that apply only to workers who earned at or above the taxable wage base for 35 years; the average retired worker collects about $2,083 per month.
Ramsey acknowledges those guaranteed increases but argues you can do better. 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. Social Security stops paying when you die, so every month you delay is, in practical terms, a bet on a longer life. Holding off and dying before collecting a single check means walking away with nothing from a system you funded for decades.
Even partial collection concerns him. Dying before a larger delayed benefit recoups the income you skipped is a genuine risk, not a theoretical edge case. Ramsey illustrates this with the example of someone who claimed at 70 and died at 77 and a half. Assuming a standard FRA benefit of $1,050, delaying to 70 would have boosted the monthly payment to $1,860, while claiming at 62 would have produced $1,500 (with an FRA of 67). The delayed filer got a bigger check each month, but collected for too few months to come out ahead overall.
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 disciplined investor who puts every early check to work in diversified equities, the math can favor early claiming during a strong market run.
The counterarguments carry real weight, though. According to CDC data, Americans who reach age 65 can expect to live about 19.7 more years on average, putting typical lifespans well into the mid-80s and comfortably past the break-even age. Investing Social Security income also demands genuine discipline and the ability to absorb market downturns, while the benefit increase from delaying is guaranteed and inflation-adjusted. Working early filers face an additional complication: in 2026, the earnings test withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480 when you are under FRA. Those withheld amounts are not gone permanently. The SSA recalculates your benefit at full retirement age to credit you for the months it reduced your check, producing a somewhat higher monthly payment going forward. The short-term cash-flow hit is real, but the recalculation eventually offsets much of it.
There is also a structural risk worth factoring in. 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. The Bipartisan Policy Center notes that the accelerated timeline is partly attributable to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, which lowered tax revenues flowing into the program by reducing ordinary income tax rates and expanding deductions. That shortfall risk cuts both ways in the Ramsey debate: a smaller benefit locked in at 62 becomes harder to absorb if across-the-board cuts arrive a decade later.
Ultimately, your health, your savings, your investment discipline, and your household income all factor into the right claiming age. A financial advisor can help you model each scenario with your actual numbers. Your choice of claiming age affects every check you receive for the rest of your life, which makes that conversation worth having before you file.
Editor’s note: This version adds the average monthly Social Security benefit of $2,083 (as of May 2026, per CNBC) for context alongside the 2026 maximum benefit figures, and cites the Bipartisan Policy Center’s analysis attributing part of the accelerated OASI depletion timeline to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. All 2026 SSA figures, including maximum monthly benefits of $2,969 at age 62, $4,152 at full retirement age, and $5,181 at age 70, and the $24,480 earnings test limit, were re-verified against SSA and AARP sources.
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