Once you’re old enough to claim Social Security, you’ll face a genuinely tough decision. The earliest age to sign up for benefits is 62. If you don’t wait until full retirement age (FRA) to take benefits, they’ll be reduced on a permanent basis.
FRA is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. Claiming at 62 when your FRA is 67 means accepting a 30% reduction in your monthly benefit for the rest of your life. For 2026, claimants who are still working also face an earnings test: the Social Security Administration withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480 annually, which can further shrink an already-reduced early check.
You might expect financial commentator Dave Ramsey to oppose claiming Social Security at 62. Ramsey has built a brand around helping people achieve financial security and avoid debt. He’s exactly the type of advisor you’d expect to warn against permanently reducing a major income stream.
Yet Ramsey actually argues that claiming at 62 makes sense in many cases. His position has real logic behind it, but it also carries risks worth understanding before you follow his lead.
Why Ramsey Supports Claiming Social Security at 62
Ramsey’s argument is straightforward. As he has said publicly, “In most cases, it actually makes more sense to take your retirement benefits sooner instead of waiting later. Why? Because your retirement payments die when you die.”
His logic is that you should make the most of Social Security while you can. If you wait until 67 to claim in order to avoid a benefit reduction, but you pass away at 71, you’ll have left money on the table compared to someone who started collecting at 62. It’s a real scenario and a legitimate point.
Still, there’s a real danger in treating that scenario as the default plan. Claiming at 62 is a very risky move under several common circumstances.
The Math Ramsey Downplays: Longevity and the Delayed Credit
Ramsey sometimes suggests claiming early and investing the difference. The math, though, rarely favors the average investor. Delaying benefits beyond FRA earns a guaranteed delayed retirement credit of 8% per year, up to age 70. Someone with an FRA of 67 who waits until 70 receives a monthly benefit that is 24% higher for the rest of their life. In a volatile market, finding any risk-free investment that reliably beats that guaranteed, inflation-adjusted increase is extraordinarily difficult.
There’s also a longevity dimension to consider. The break-even point, the age at which a delayed filer collects more in total lifetime benefits than an early filer, typically falls in the early-to-mid 80s. The average life expectancy for a 62-year-old woman today is about 84, meaning a significant share of early claimants will outlive their break-even point and end up collecting less over their lifetime. Waiting also acts as insurance against outliving your 401(k) or IRA savings. A higher guaranteed monthly check in your 80s is worth far more than a modest additional check in your 60s.
Why You May Not Want to Follow Ramsey’s Advice
If you have substantial retirement savings and plan to use Social Security as supplemental income, Ramsey’s suggestion to take benefits early may be reasonable for your situation. But if you have limited savings, claiming at 62 is a decision that could become difficult to live with over time.
The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances puts median retirement savings for Americans ages 65 to 74 at $200,000. That figure can feel comfortable until you consider that it may need to stretch across 20 or more years of retirement. Most financial planners recommend a 4% annual withdrawal rate as a sustainable drawdown strategy. Applied to a $200,000 nest egg, that yields just $8,000 per year in portfolio income.
If your only non-Social Security income is $8,000 a year, you almost certainly cannot afford to take a permanent 30% cut to your monthly benefit by claiming at 62. In that scenario, Social Security isn’t just a supplement; it’s the foundation of your retirement income. Additionally, if you are the higher-earning spouse, filing early permanently reduces the survivor benefit your spouse would receive after your death, which is a real cost that Ramsey’s framing often glosses over.
The average Social Security retirement benefit in 2026 is approximately $1,976 per month. A 30% reduction from claiming at 62 instead of 67 would cut that to roughly $1,383 per month, a gap of nearly $7,000 per year that compounds across a long retirement.
None of this means claiming at 62 is always wrong. Before you follow Ramsey’s advice, run a practical stress test on three factors: your health and realistic life expectancy, whether you plan to keep working (which triggers the earnings test), and the impact on your spouse’s survivor benefit. A financial advisor who specializes in retirement income can run the numbers based on your specific savings, health profile, and goals.
Editor’s note: This update added the specific 2026 earnings test threshold of $24,480, confirmed the 8% delayed retirement credit and the 24% total benefit boost from waiting from age 67 to 70, included the approximate average 2026 Social Security benefit of $1,976 per month, and added context on the typical break-even age for delaying benefits.
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