Social Security Questions and Answers
Short, plain-English answers to what people actually ask.
Frequently asked questions
There is no single best age. Claiming at 62 pays 70% of your full benefit but starts sooner; waiting to 70 pays 124%. The break-even is usually around age 80, so it comes down to your health, whether you need the income, and whether a spouse will inherit your benefit.
67 if you were born in 1960 or later. For those born 1955 to 1959 it rises in two-month steps from 66 and 2 months to 66 and 10 months.
Eight in 2026: Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah and Vermont. Most of them exempt lower and middle incomes, so many retirees there pay nothing.
None. Delayed retirement credits stop at your 70th birthday. Every month you wait beyond it is a payment you will never receive, with nothing gained in return.
No. You receive the larger of the two, not the sum. That is also true for a survivor, which is why delaying the higher earner's claim matters so much for couples.
With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 pays 70% of your full benefit, a 30% permanent cut. The reduction is 5/9 of one percent per month for the first 36 months early, then 5/12 of one percent per month beyond.
Yes. Before full retirement age an earnings test withholds part of your benefit above an annual limit, but it is credited back through a recalculation at full retirement age. After full retirement age there is no limit.
Yes, if the marriage lasted at least ten years and you have not remarried. It does not reduce their benefit and they are not notified.
Not if you were born in 1954 or later. Deemed filing means you are treated as claiming everything you qualify for. Survivor benefits are the exception and can still be switched.
From age 60, or 50 if disabled, which is earlier than any other retirement benefit. Claiming at 60 pays about 71.5% of the deceased's benefit, rising to 100% at the survivor's full retirement age.
Federally, up to 85% of benefits can be taxable depending on your other income, and that applies everywhere. At state level only eight states tax benefits in 2026, and most exempt lower and middle incomes.