It’s not surprising that 62 is a popular age to claim Social Security. It is the earliest age you can sign up for retirement benefits, and millions of Americans take that option every year.
There’s a real cost to filing that early, though. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age (FRA) is 67, so claiming at 62 means filing five full years early. The cumulative reduction lands at around 30%. That math shows up quickly in real dollars. According to December 2025 SSA data, the average monthly benefit for a 62-year-old new beneficiary was $1,335, compared to $2,521 for a 67-year-old new beneficiary. That $1,186 monthly gap is permanent once someone files at 62.
You may not realize how steep that reduction is until your first Social Security check arrives. But if you’re unhappy with the number you see, don’t panic. Your benefits could still increase, and there’s more than one way to make it happen.
A little-known rule gives you more options
You’re probably aware that Social Security benefits receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The 2026 COLA came in at 2.8%, slightly higher than the 2.5% adjustment in 2025. Those yearly raises add up over time, but if you claimed at 62, a COLA alone may not be enough to meaningfully close the gap between what you’re getting and what you could have received.
Fortunately, Social Security has a formal do-over option that most people never hear about. You can undo your filing entirely and sign up again at a later age, locking in a higher base benefit for the rest of your life.
To exercise that option, you must do two things:
- Withdraw your application for benefits within 12 months of having it approved
- Repay the money you and your family received, as well as any money withheld for Medicare premiums, taxes, and garnishments
No interest is charged on the repayment, but you only get one withdrawal in your lifetime. To initiate it, submit Form SSA-521 within 12 months of when you first became entitled to benefits. Once Social Security approves the withdrawal, it treats the situation as if you never applied for benefits in the first place.
The benefit of doing this can be substantial. Consider a scenario where you claimed at 62 and ended up with $1,400 a month. Waiting until 67, which is FRA for anyone born in 1960 or later, would have delivered $2,000 a month instead. Undo the early claim, repay what you received, and refile at 67 to lock in monthly checks that are $600 higher apiece. A higher starting benefit also means each year’s COLA adds more in dollar terms, so the gap between early and late claimers compounds over time.
There’s also a meaningful benefit to delaying even beyond FRA. Each year you hold off on Social Security past full retirement age and up to age 70 boosts your monthly checks by 8%. That means someone who uses the do-over option and then waits until 70 instead of 67 stands to gain even more.
What if the 12-month window has already closed?
Missing the withdrawal deadline doesn’t eliminate all your options. If you have reached full retirement age, you can ask Social Security to suspend your retirement benefit payments. By doing so, you earn delayed retirement credits for each month your benefits are suspended, which results in a higher payment when you resume.
Unlike a withdrawal, a suspension requires no repayment of prior benefits, and you can request it even if you have been retired for several years. During the suspension period, you earn delayed retirement credits worth two-thirds of 1% for each suspended month, or 8% for each full suspended year. If your benefit payments are suspended, they will automatically start again the month you reach age 70. One important caveat: while your retirement benefits are suspended, your spouse and children cannot collect family benefits on your work record.
Think carefully before you claim Social Security
The do-over option is genuinely powerful, but its biggest catch is a practical one. To use it, you need to repay every dollar of benefits received, including any amounts paid to a spouse or dependents on your record. If that money is already spent by the time you discover the option, it may be off the table.
That’s why the filing age decision matters so much from the start. Fully understanding the long-term impact of claiming at 62 sometimes provides the push needed to wait, even if only by a year or two. Claiming at 65 rather than 62, for example, already results in meaningfully larger monthly checks, and even a delay of a few months makes a difference that compounds across decades of retirement.
It also pays to be aware of the earnings test if you’re still working. For those under full retirement age for the entire year, Social Security deducts $1 from benefit payments for every $2 earned above the annual limit, which in 2026 is $24,480. That withheld money is eventually recredited once you reach FRA, but the short-term hit to cash flow can be significant and catches many early claimers off guard.
The bottom line: claiming Social Security at 62 is not necessarily a permanent sentence. The do-over and suspension rules offer real pathways to a larger check, but both require planning, and the most valuable planning happens before you file.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include December 2025 SSA benefit figures showing the average monthly gap between claiming at 62 versus 67, the 2026 COLA of 2.8%, current earnings test thresholds, and a new section covering the voluntary benefit suspension option available at full retirement age for readers who have missed the 12-month withdrawal window.
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