A Growing Number of Seniors Are Claiming Social Security at This Popular Age. Should You Join Them?

Key Points

• 2025 has seen a rapid influx of Social Security applicants with many opting to claim as soon as possible.

• Many may be worried about the health of Social Security with reports of benefit cuts coming within eight years.

• Here's why many claimants could be making a mistake.

Retirees are forced to balance a tremendous number of factors when it comes to deciding when to claim Social Security benefits. On top of things like how much they've saved for retirement in investment accounts, their health, and their marriage, retirees are now staring down the barrel of potential benefits cuts as Social Security is set to deplete its trust fund in about eight years. That's led a growing number of seniors to claim benefits as soon as possible at age 62, but joining them could be a mistake for many.

Despite the current threat to Social Security's solvency, seniors shouldn't be in a rush to claim their benefits. While there are cases when claiming at age 62 makes sense, the majority of retirees will be better off waiting to claim their benefits. Here's what you need to know before basing a decision purely on headlines warning about future benefit cuts.

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An influx of Social Security claims

Early data show the Social Security Administration is on track to see nearly 4 million applications for retirement benefits this year. That's roughly 15% higher than 2024.

While there's a large number of Baby Boomers retiring with the youngest members of the generation reaching the age of eligibility this year and next year, it doesn't fully explain the increase. The average increase in annual claims over the previous 12 years has been about 3%.

Importantly, the new claims are tilted toward age 62, the age when most individuals first become eligible for retirement benefits. And even more interesting is higher earners were increasingly likely to claim early.

Claiming at age 62 flies in the face of most expert recommendations. That said, I believe there are a couple of cases when it would make a lot of sense to claim at age 62.

The first case is if you suffer from a chronic condition that's expected to shorten your life expectancy. Since Social Security is designed to pay out the same amount of benefits for an average life expectancy, if you have reason to expect a shorter-than-average lifespan, it makes sense to claim benefits sooner rather than later -- if your decision won't adversely affect another family member.

The second case is if you were a lower-earning spouse. A good strategy for maximizing household benefits is for low-earning spouses to claim benefits as soon as possible and their spouse to claim benefits as late as possible. This brings in income now while maximizing survivor benefits later and typically results in the highest expected total income for a household based on average life expectancy.

But if high earners are increasingly claiming at age 62, most of them are likely making a mistake that will cost them in the long run.

The health of Social Security shouldn't impact your decision so much

The latest Social Security Trustees Report estimates the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund will run out of money in 2033. At that point, incoming revenue will only be enough to pay out 77% of benefits.

That's a steep cut, but many seniors will be better of waiting until age 70 to claim their benefits. That's because the guaranteed increase in benefits from waiting from age 62 until age 70 is about 77%. That's on top of the annual COLAs your benefits receive every year after age 62, whether you've started Social Security or not.

Someone claiming benefits at age 62 instead of age 70 would only collect more in benefits, under normal circumstances, if they pass away before age 80 and a half. But even if there's a 23% cut in benefits in the year a beneficiary turns 70, the breakeven age only gets pushed out about three years. The increase is smaller if cuts start earlier in one's life. Meanwhile, the average 70 year old is expected to live past 84 (87 for women). And while you could claim benefits early and invest them, there are no guaranteed returns in the financial markets like there are with Social Security.

Even if those breakeven calculations would sway your decision, the other thing to consider is that Congress is unlikely to allow Social Security to fail. While the clock is ticking on reforming the program to ensure its long-term sustainability, Congress could take measures to ensure nobody in retirement or approaching it will see benefit cuts anytime soon. That could include using the general fund to help pay for benefits and reforming the program to make up the deficit over time.

As such, there's no good reason to start collecting benefits as soon as possible if you wouldn't consider it without the looming threat of benefit cuts.

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