As a retiree, you are probably going to rely on Social Security for support, and you need to decide when you want your retirement benefit checks to start.
Suze Orman has strong opinions on that question, and her advice could make a meaningful difference to your finances. She has a stern warning worth reading before you even consider claiming your monthly benefit from the Social Security Administration.
Here is what Orman’s warning is, and why it deserves your full attention.
Listen to Suze Orman’s stern warning on Social Security
Orman issued her Social Security warning on LinkedIn, stating, “Are you (or a family member) considering when to start claiming your Social Security benefits? It’s crucial to weigh your options carefully. While you can start claiming at 62, keep in mind that your benefit will be permanently lower than if you wait.”
Orman’s warning centers on a decision that catches many people off guard: 62 is the earliest age you can claim Social Security retirement benefits, and a large share of retirees start their checks then. Some do so because they feel financially ready to retire and assume they need those benefits right away. Others simply do not realize what an early claim costs them over the long run. Because the government is ready to send checks the moment you qualify, waiting can feel counterintuitive.
As Orman points out, however, claiming at 62 locks in a much smaller monthly check. Every worker has a designated full retirement age (FRA). For anyone born in 1960 or later, that age is 67. Claiming before FRA triggers a permanent reduction; claiming after FRA earns delayed retirement credits that grow your check for life.
Many people underestimate how large that reduction will be, and very few realize it cannot be undone. Once you lock in an early benefit, you can never recapture the monthly income you would have received by waiting.
Why you should listen to Orman about when to claim Social Security
An early claim can have serious long-term consequences for your finances. Every month you claim before FRA triggers an early-filing penalty: 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before FRA, and 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that. Those penalties compound to a 30% permanent reduction if your FRA is 67 and you claim at 62. To put that in dollar terms, a benefit of $2,000 at FRA would shrink to just $1,400 at 62. Real-world SSA data from December 2025 tells the same story: new claimants who started benefits at 62 received an average of $1,335 per month, while new claimants who waited until 67 received an average of $2,521.
On the upside, delayed retirement credits reward patience. Waiting beyond FRA adds 2/3 of 1% per month, which equals 8% per year. Someone with an FRA of 67 who waits until 70 would see a 24% increase over their full benefit. A 2022 National Bureau of Economic Research study found that more than 90% of workers between ages 45 and 62 would maximize their lifetime Social Security income by waiting until 70 to claim. Yet the temptation to claim early remains strong: early-claiming applications surged roughly 16% in 2025 compared with 2024, partly driven by uncertainty about the program’s future.
The stakes are even higher for married couples. An early claim does not just shrink your own check. It also reduces the survivor benefit your spouse could collect if you were the higher earner. By claiming early, you could leave your partner with less guaranteed income for decades.
The broader context makes Orman’s warning more urgent. Social Security’s 2026 cost-of-living adjustment came in at 2.8%, adding roughly $56 to the average retiree’s check and pushing the average monthly benefit to about $2,071. But Medicare Part B premiums rose 9.7% for 2026, to $202.90 per month, and those premiums are deducted directly from most retirees’ Social Security checks. That means the net raise many retirees actually see is considerably smaller than the headline COLA figure. Claiming at 62 already locks in a permanently reduced base benefit, and that smaller base is then subject to the same cost pressures year after year.
Many retirees today outlive the life expectancies that shaped Social Security’s original design. The early-filing penalties and delayed retirement credits were intended to even out lifetime benefits for early and late claimants. Because so many people now live well into their 80s and beyond, waiting until 70 typically results in collecting far more in total benefits over a lifetime. The break-even point, the age at which a late claimer’s cumulative benefits surpass what an early claimer collected, typically falls around age 82, which is well within reach for a healthy retiree today.
Taking Orman’s warning seriously and holding off until 70 can be one of the most consequential financial decisions you make. A larger, guaranteed check arriving later in life, when other income sources may have dwindled, provides a cushion that no other retirement asset can fully replicate.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include the 2026 Social Security COLA of 2.8%, the current average monthly retirement benefit of $2,071, the 9.7% rise in Medicare Part B premiums to $202.90, real-world SSA data showing the average new claimant at 62 receives $1,335 versus $2,521 at 67, and a 2022 NBER study finding that over 90% of workers maximize lifetime benefits by waiting until age 70.
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