When to Take Social Security
The claiming-age decision, worked honestly. Compare what 62, your full retirement age, and 70 actually pay using the benefit figure on your own Social Security statement — plus the break-even math and its limits, the survivor benefit most calculators ignore, the earnings test, and how much of your benefit is taxable.
Social Security Break-Even Calculator
Enter the benefit printed on your own Social Security statement and see the age at which claiming later overtakes claiming earlier, in plain cumulative dollars and again weighted by the chance of living to collect. This is an estimate, and the panel beside it names the four things a break-even age cannot tell you.
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Social Security at 62, 67, or 70: What Each One Pays
See what claiming at 62, at your full retirement age, and at 70 would pay each month and each year, worked from the benefit figure on your own Social Security statement. Includes the break-even math between any two of them, and an honest account of what that break-even age leaves out. Estimate only.
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Full Retirement Age Lookup
Your full retirement age is set by the year you were born, from 65 for people born before 1938 to 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Enter your birth year to see yours, the whole statutory table it comes from, and what claiming at 62 or at 70 would do to your benefit.
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Taxes on Social Security Benefits Calculator
Work out how much of your Social Security is taxable, using the combined-income test the IRS actually applies: your other income, plus any tax-exempt interest, plus half your benefits. Crossing a threshold taxes only the amount above it, up to 85%, which makes it a bracket rather than the cliff Medicare's income surcharge uses. Estimate only.
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Social Security Survivor Benefits Pay Chart
When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two Social Security benefits, not both. Enter what each of you receives to see the household income that would remain, the monthly drop in each case, and how the higher earner's claiming age sets the survivor's floor for life. Estimate only.
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Social Security Earnings Test Calculator
If you claim Social Security before full retirement age and keep working, some of your benefit is withheld once your earnings pass the annual limit. Enter your expected earnings to see how much. The part people are rarely told: what is withheld is added back to your monthly benefit at full retirement age. Estimate only.
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Social Security Payment Dates — When Your Money Arrives
Social Security pays on a Wednesday decided by the day of the month you were born, so two people in one household are often paid on different days. Enter that day to see every payment date for the year, the date to wait until before calling, and why a spouse follows a different schedule.
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