Fewer than 1 in 10 Americans between the ages of 45 and 62 would lose money by waiting until 70 to claim Social Security. Yet just over 10 percent actually do so. The other 90 percent leave, which is the only honest word for it, a staggering amount of money uncollected over the course of their retirements.
The dollar figure attached to that gap has now been quantified. A 2023 National Bureau of Economic Research study found that the median loss in lifetime discretionary spending for households aged 45 to 62 who claim Social Security too early is $182,370. That number doesn’t describe an unusual case or a worst-case scenario. It’s the median, meaning half of early claimers lose more than that. The study also found that optimizing the claiming decision would produce a 10.4 percent increase in typical workers’ lifetime spending. For most households, no other single retirement decision comes close to that kind of leverage.
Social Security claiming mistakes come in several distinct forms, and early filing is only the most obvious of them. Some involve timing. Others involve coordination with a spouse. A few concerns that claimants don’t even know they’re entitled to. Each one has a price, and in most cases, that price is permanent.
1. Claiming at 62 and Locking In a 30% Reduction for Life
The Social Security Administration sets the current full retirement age at 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later – the group turning 62 in 2026. Claiming the moment you become eligible triggers a penalty that never goes away. According to a report from the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress, workers with a full retirement age of 67 who file at 62 see their monthly benefit cut by 30%. That CRS report details how the reduction is permanent. Annual cost-of-living adjustments (the annual inflation increases the SSA applies to benefits) raise the dollar amount over time, but they always calculate from that reduced base – never from what the benefit would have been at full retirement age.
Data from 24/7 Wall St. shows that just 9.3% of new retired-worker beneficiaries claimed at age 70 in 2023, while 28% claimed at 62. The math behind those choices looks very different over a 20-year retirement. According to a 2026 analysis by The Motley Fool, workers born in 1960 or later can increase their benefit by 77% by claiming at 70 rather than 62.
In 2026, the maximum monthly Social Security benefit is $2,969 at age 62, $4,207 at full retirement age, and $5,181 at age 70. For anyone with a meaningful earnings history and a reasonable life expectancy, claiming at 62 means permanently trading the top end of that range for the bottom. The practical step: before filing at any age, log in to your free account at ssa.gov and compare your projected benefit at 62, 67, and 70 side by side. The numbers are yours, and they’re free to view.
2. Misunderstanding How Delayed Credits Work – and Stopping at 67
Many people know that claiming before full retirement age reduces benefits. Far fewer understand that waiting past full retirement age increases them. The Social Security Administration confirms that benefits grow by a set percentage for each month you delay filing past your full retirement age. That works out to 8% per year. For workers with a full retirement age of 67, delaying to 70 adds 24% to the monthly benefit – permanently.
The 8% annual growth from delayed credits is guaranteed and risk-free in a way that few comparable financial decisions are. As covered in The Hearty Soul’s reporting on Social Security benefits, the maximum monthly benefit rises from $4,207 at full retirement age to $5,181 at 70 – and those credits stop accruing the moment you turn 70. There is no benefit to waiting past age 70. The credits cap out there. Claiming at 71, 72, or later earns nothing additional compared to filing at exactly 70.
One misconception that compounds this error: some people delay past 67 but stop at 68 or 69 because they assume the math gets complicated or the gain shrinks. It doesn’t. The 8% annual credit applies consistently for every full year of delay between 67 and 70. If you plan to delay, commit to 70, not a halfway point that leaves money on the table.
3. Claiming Early While Still Working
Claiming Social Security before full retirement age and continuing to work isn’t automatically a problem, but it triggers a rule that many claimants never see coming. The SSA’s earnings test applies to workers under full retirement age who earn above a set threshold, reducing benefits by $1 for every $2 earned over the limit. In 2026, The Motley Fool confirmed that this threshold is $24,480 – and in the year you reach full retirement age, a higher limit of $65,160 applies, with $1 withheld for every $3 earned over it.
The withheld money isn’t lost forever. The SSA recalculates your benefit at full retirement age and credits back the months when payments were withheld. But the recalculation is partial, and the short-term cash flow hit can be severe for anyone earning significantly above the threshold. A worker claiming at 62 on a $60,000 salary, for example, would lose roughly $17,760 in benefits that year alone – and the restored amount at 67 doesn’t fully compensate for that gap.
The cleaner solution: if you’re under 67 and still working a job that pays meaningfully above $24,480, waiting to file is almost always the better option. You avoid the earnings test entirely, keep accumulating delayed credits if you hold off past 67, and collect a substantially larger check when you finally do claim.
4. Ignoring Spousal Benefit Coordination
Married couples have access to a claiming strategy that single individuals don’t, and most couples don’t take full advantage of it. The Social Security Administration allows a lower-earning spouse to claim a benefit worth up to 50% of the higher-earning spouse’s primary insurance amount (the amount the higher earner receives at full retirement age). According to Greenbush Financial Group, the higher-earning spouse must be actively receiving their own benefit before the lower-earning spouse can claim the spousal benefit.
That sequencing requirement creates a common mistake. Couples often both claim early and independently, without modeling what happens if the higher earner waits longer. When the higher earner delays to 70, two things happen: their own monthly check grows by up to 24%, and the survivor benefit – the amount the lower-earning spouse would receive if the higher earner dies first – also increases. A 2026 analysis in 24/7 Wall St. notes that spousal benefits cap out at 50% of the primary earner’s standard benefit and don’t grow larger if the lower-earning spouse waits beyond their full retirement age to claim them. That means the lower earner generally has no reason to delay past 67 for spousal benefits – but the higher earner has every reason to delay as long as financially possible.
The practical approach for married couples: the higher earner should delay to 70 if at all feasible, while the lower earner can claim their own benefit earlier to provide household income in the interim. When the higher earner eventually files, the lower earner switches to the spousal benefit if it exceeds their own. This kind of coordination can add tens of thousands of dollars to lifetime household income.
5. Making the Wrong Survivor Benefit Moves as a Widow or Widower
Survivor benefits – the monthly payments available to a widow or widower based on the deceased spouse’s earning record – represent one of the least understood corners of Social Security. And the cost of getting it wrong is substantial. A 2026 audit cited by 24/7 Wall St. found that 5,367 widows and widowers lost a combined $113.8 million because they received incorrect claiming advice.
According to the SSA’s survivor benefit guidance, surviving spouses can claim as early as age 60, with payments starting at 71.5% of the deceased spouse’s benefit and increasing the longer the survivor waits to apply. A guide published by Benefora explains that a widow claiming at 60 instead of waiting until full retirement age permanently loses roughly 29% of the survivor benefit.
There’s a second layer to this that catches many surviving spouses off guard: the size of the survivor benefit depends partly on when the deceased spouse claimed. As Benefora explains, if a spouse claimed at 62 and took the early reduction, the survivor inherits that reduction. If the spouse delayed to 70, the survivor benefit reflects that higher base. This is one of the strongest arguments for the higher-earning spouse to delay as long as possible – the decision protects not just their own lifetime income, but also what their partner would receive if widowed.
Surviving spouses also have a strategic option that most don’t use: they can claim one benefit early and then switch to the other later. A widow could claim the survivor benefit at 60 to access income immediately, then let their own retirement benefit grow through delayed credits and switch at 70. Or they could claim their own benefit early and switch to the survivor benefit at full retirement age. Which path makes more financial sense depends entirely on the specific dollar amounts involved, which means running those numbers with an actual Social Security calculator before making any decision.
You can find more detail on the mechanics of coordinated Social Security planning in a Social Security trick most people miss.
Read More: Working Past 67 and Social Security
Run the Numbers Before You File
The five social security claiming mistakes above – claiming at 62 for a permanent 30% cut, stopping at 67 without collecting delayed credits, filing while still working above the earnings limit, ignoring spousal coordination, and mishandling survivor benefits – each carry specific, calculable costs. The SSA’s my Social Security portal lets anyone model their projected benefit at 62, 67, and 70 using their actual earnings record, at no cost. That comparison takes about 15 minutes and is the single most useful thing most people can do before making any filing decision.
As SmartAsset details, the reduction from early filing remains fixed for life – annual inflation adjustments raise the nominal dollar amount each year, but the benefit always reflects that original early-claiming reduction. That permanence is what makes these mistakes different from most financial errors. A bad investment can recover. A claiming decision made at 62 cannot be undone.
With the average Social Security retirement benefit in 2026 sitting at approximately $2,071 per month, the difference between a well-timed claim and a poorly timed one can easily exceed $500 per month for life. Over a 20-year retirement, that’s six figures. The NBER study that put a $182,370 median price tag on early claiming did so based on real household data – not projections built on worst-case assumptions. That figure is what the typical household actually loses. Knowing that, the my Social Security portal at ssa.gov is the first and most important place to start.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional financial advice, investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and is provided for informational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of a qualified financial advisor, accountant, or other licensed professional regarding your personal financial situation or investment decisions. Do not make financial, investment, or tax decisions based solely on information presented here. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and all investments carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.
Read More: 7 Social Security Moves That Can Add $1,200+ to Your Benefits Each Year