When it comes to claiming Social Security, you have real choices. The earliest age to sign up for benefits is 62, but monthly payments are reduced unless you wait until full retirement age (FRA) to file. That age is 67 for anyone born after 1959.
You can also delay your Social Security claim past FRA for a larger monthly check. Each year you hold off, up until age 70, adds an 8% boost to your monthly benefit. That translates to a total increase of roughly 24% above the FRA amount if you wait the full three years to 70. And compared to filing at 62, Suze Orman has noted the benefit at 70 is about 76% higher.
If you’re unsure when to sign up, you may naturally look to financial experts like Dave Ramsey and Orman for guidance. The two have diametrically opposite views on the right time to file. Equally important: neither position is a one-size-fits-all answer.
Ramsey’s Social Security advice
Ramsey advocates claiming Social Security at 62, the earliest age allowed. On its face, this seems out of character for someone who urges Americans to avoid debt and build wealth through discipline. Filing at 62 triggers a permanent 30% reduction in monthly benefits for people born in 1960 or later, compared with waiting until age 67.
His rationale has two parts. First, benefits only pay out as long as you are alive, so starting earlier means more total monthly payments if your lifespan turns out to be average or shorter. Second, Ramsey argues that if you invest those early checks rather than spending them, the returns can outpace the advantage of a larger delayed benefit. He cites expected annual returns of 10% to 12% from diversified mutual funds as justification for this approach.
Orman’s Social Security advice
Orman takes the opposite position. She is a firm advocate for waiting until age 70, arguing that locking in the largest possible monthly benefit delivers the best financial security across a long retirement. Her advice carries particular weight for people with modest savings, since a bigger guaranteed check can help offset gaps in their nest egg.
The Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the most recent published edition, put the median retirement savings for Americans ages 65 to 74 at $200,000. Even generously adjusting for stock market gains in the years since, that figure points to a meaningful shortfall. A $200,000 nest egg spread across a 20-year or longer retirement provides only limited cushion. That reality underpins Orman’s insistence on maximizing the one income stream that is guaranteed, inflation-adjusted, and lasts a lifetime.
Why you may not want to claim at 62 or 70
Both positions have internal logic, but neither fits every retiree.
The case against filing at 62 is straightforward: you are permanently reducing what may be your primary source of retirement income. Claiming early also comes with a practical trap for anyone still working. In 2026, the Social Security earnings test withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480 for workers under FRA. To execute Ramsey’s invest-the-checks strategy effectively, you generally need to be fully retired at 62 and have sufficient savings to cover living expenses while redirecting Social Security income into investments. That is a prerequisite many 62-year-olds cannot meet.
The math also works against early filers who live long. According to AARP, the break-even point for claiming at 62 versus waiting until FRA is roughly age 78 years and 8 months. Anyone living into their 80s, which actuarial data suggests is the median outcome for a healthy 65-year-old today, stands to collect more lifetime income by delaying.
Waiting until 70, however, carries its own risks. Unless you have substantial savings, holding off on Social Security could force you to keep working well into your late 60s. That is not always possible: health problems can end a career unexpectedly, and age discrimination, though illegal, is notoriously difficult to prove and prosecute. Filing at 70 is only a viable strategy for retirees who have bridging income to cover the gap years.
There is also a new wrinkle in the equation. The Social Security Administration’s 2026 Trustees Report, released June 9, 2026, projects that the OASI Trust Fund will be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032. At that point, ongoing payroll tax revenue would cover only 78% of scheduled benefits, an automatic 22% cut for all recipients unless Congress acts. That looming shortfall adds urgency to the claiming decision and makes a strong case for maximizing your guaranteed benefit, since a 22% cut from a higher base still leaves more monthly income than a 22% cut from an already-reduced early-filing amount.
Rather than gravitating to either extreme, many financial planners point toward a middle path. Signing up at FRA means collecting your full earned benefit without reductions or credits. Alternatively, coordinating your start date with Medicare enrollment at 65 simplifies the transition and avoids a coverage gap. For married couples, the higher earner delaying to 70 is often particularly valuable, since the surviving spouse inherits the larger of the two benefits.
The claiming decision is ultimately personal, shaped by your health, savings, employment status, and how you weigh longevity risk. Ramsey’s approach may suit someone in poor health with strong investment discipline. Orman’s approach is compelling for healthy retirees with other income to bridge the gap. For most people, the most defensible choice lands somewhere between 62 and 70, and the right answer requires running your own numbers carefully before you commit.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the Social Security Administration’s 2026 Trustees Report, released June 9, 2026, which projects the OASI Trust Fund will be depleted in Q4 2032 with 78% of benefits then payable. It also incorporates the 2026 Social Security earnings test threshold of $24,480 and the AARP break-even comparison between early and full-retirement-age filing.
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