Claiming Social Security at 62 Doesn't Just Cost You Now. It Could Affect Your Future Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs), Too.
Key Points
Social Security COLAs are percentages, so everyone sees their checks increase by a slightly different amount.
Early claimers get smaller COLAs by dollar value because their initial checks are smaller.
Early claiming can be right for some people, but it can reduce others' lifetime benefits.
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The upside of claiming Social Security at 62 is obvious: You'll get the most checks possible. For some, those benefits could be the help they need to finally retire or cut back on their hours at work.
But claiming Social Security early has its drawbacks, too. You permanently shrink your checks by up to 30%, and your future cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) will be smaller, too.
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How claiming Social Security early hurts your future COLAs
Social Security COLAs are percentages. They're designed to ensure everyone gets the same proportional benefit increase, but you might get a slightly different dollar amount than your neighbor.
Those with larger Social Security benefits today receive larger COLAs by dollar value. This puts early claimers at a disadvantage. Your smaller initial checks will lead to smaller future COLAs.
How this works in practice
We don't know what the 2027 Social Security COLA will look like yet, but the latest estimate from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonpartisan senior group, puts it at around 3.9%. If you qualified for the $2,081 average monthly benefit as of April 2026 at your full retirement age (FRA) -- 67 for most people today -- you'd get about $81 more per month with a 3.9% COLA. That would raise your monthly checks to $2,162.
But if you claimed at 62, you'd only get about $1,457 per month right now, thanks to the 30% early claiming penalty. And a 3.9% COLA would only give you an extra $57 per month next year. Your new monthly benefit would be just $1,514.
This problem builds on itself. Say the 2028 COLA comes in at 3%. The person who claimed a $2,081 benefit at their FRA and then received an $81 COLA in 2027 would get an extra $65 per month, bringing them to $2,227. But the person who claimed a $1,457 monthly benefit at 62 and received a $57 COLA in 2027 would only get a $45 boost in 2028, bringing them to $1,559 per month.
In this example, what was only a $624 difference in 2026 benefit amounts becomes a $648 difference in 2027 and a $668 difference in 2028. This gap only increases with time.
Think carefully before choosing when to apply for Social Security
This isn't to say there's never a reason to claim Social Security at 62. You might consider it if you can't work and have no other way to cover your bills. Some people with short life expectancies also choose to sign up early.
But if neither of those things applies to you, you might consider waiting to sign up. You will have to cover your living expenses another way until you're ready to apply. But when you finally do claim Social Security, you'll get larger checks and larger COLAs.
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