Does Social Security increase monthly for delayed retirement or only yearly?

Social Security retirement benefits increase for EACH MONTH you delay claiming, not just yearly. From 62 to FRA (Full Retirement Age, which is 67 for people born in 1960 or later), your benefit increases approximately 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months of delay, and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month. After FRA, you earn Delayed Retirement Credits of 2/3 of 1% per month (8% per year) until age 70. So yes, waiting 63 and 4 months instead of exactly 63 would give you 4 months of additional credits.

i waited til 64 and 9 months to take mine and yeah every month counts! my sister took hers right at 62 and gets like $450 less than me every month. big difference over time

Just adding that the monthly increase isn't exactly the same each month. The formula is a bit complicated, but the SSA calculates it precisely. Your benefit estimation statement actually shows the different amounts at 62, FRA, and 70, but doesn't show all the months in between.

One thing to consider beyond just the monthly increase calculation is your overall life expectancy and financial needs. While delaying gives you more per month forever, claiming earlier means more checks total (though smaller ones). The rough "break-even" point is usually around age 80-82, where the total benefits received would equal out. If you expect to live well beyond that, waiting generally pays off better in total.

Has anyone here actually CALLED the SSA to get a personalized calculation? I tried calling for weeks and couldn't get through. Just kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting 2+ hours.

don't forget abt taxes too..if ur still working when u claim ss, they might reduce ur benefits OR u might pay more taxes depending on ur income..happened to my brother in law

I found the SSA website calculator to be really helpful for seeing different filing ages. You can put in exact months, not just years: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html

My husband and I were JUST talking about this last night! We're trying to coordinate our claiming strategies since I'm 62 and he's 60. It's so confusing trying to maximize our household benefits. From what I understand, for each month you delay, your benefit increases by a small percentage as others have mentioned. It's not the same percentage throughout though - it's higher after you reach Full Retirement Age than before.

Just want to add a practical tip for anyone trying to make this decision - you can actually change your mind within 12 months of filing! If you claim early and then realize you made a mistake, SSA allows you to withdraw your application once in your lifetime. You'd have to pay back all the benefits you received, but then you could re-file later at the higher amount. It's called "Form SSA-521" if anyone wants to look it up. Not saying you should count on this as a strategy, but it's good to know the option exists if life circumstances change unexpectedly after you file.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Social Security also has automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) each year, so your benefit amount will continue to grow even after you start claiming. The COLA applies to whatever base amount you've locked in when you file. So if you delay and get a higher starting benefit, that higher amount gets the annual COLA increases too - which compounds the advantage of waiting. For 2024, the COLA was 3.2%, and it varies each year based on inflation. Just something else to factor into your decision-making process!

I just want to echo what others have said about the monthly increases - they really do add up! I delayed from my FRA of 67 to age 69 and 3 months, and those extra 27 months of delayed retirement credits increased my monthly benefit by about $540. What really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet tracking the exact monthly benefit amounts at different claiming ages using the SSA calculator someone linked. I could see how much I'd gain for each additional month of waiting. One other consideration I don't see mentioned yet - if you're married and are the higher earner, remember that your claiming decision affects not just your own benefits but potentially your spouse's survivor benefits too. My wife will get 100% of my benefit amount when I pass, so maximizing that by delaying was important for our long-term financial security as a couple.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that you can actually see your projected monthly benefits for ANY age between 62 and 70 on your Social Security Statement, not just the three main ages (62, FRA, and 70). If you log into your my Social Security account online, there's a tool that lets you input different retirement dates down to the exact month. This was super helpful when I was trying to decide between retiring at 65 and 8 months versus waiting until 66. The difference was about $47 per month, which helped me make a more informed decision based on my specific financial needs. Also worth noting - if you're still working and have good health insurance through your employer, that's another factor in the timing decision since Medicare doesn't kick in until 65 regardless of when you claim Social Security.

As someone who just went through this decision process last year, I want to emphasize how important it is to factor in your health status and family longevity when making this choice. Everyone focuses on the break-even analysis around age 80-82, but that assumes average life expectancy. If you have health issues or your family history suggests shorter lifespans, claiming earlier might make more sense even with the reduced monthly benefit. On the flip side, if you're in great health and your parents/grandparents lived into their 90s, the math strongly favors waiting until 70. I ended up claiming at 66 and 7 months after my doctor told me about some concerning test results - sometimes life throws you curveballs that override the pure financial calculations. Just make sure you're considering ALL the factors, not just the monthly increase formulas!

I'm in a similar situation at 61 and have been researching this extensively! One resource that's been incredibly helpful is the Social Security Administration's own publication "When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits" (Publication No. 05-10147). It breaks down the exact monthly percentage increases and includes examples for different scenarios. What I learned is that the monthly increases are indeed precise - not rounded to yearly amounts. The key insight for me was understanding that if your Full Retirement Age is 67 (like mine), every month you delay between 62-67 adds about 0.56% to your benefit, and every month from 67-70 adds 0.67%. So yes, those 4 extra months you mentioned would absolutely count! I've also found it helpful to think about it in terms of "replacement ratio" - how much of your pre-retirement income you'll need. This has helped me balance the desire for higher monthly payments against the reality of needing income sooner rather than later.

Great question and excellent discussion everyone! As a newcomer who's also approaching this decision, I wanted to add that the Social Security Administration recently updated their online tools to make these monthly calculations even more transparent. If you create a my Social Security account at ssa.gov, there's now a "Retirement Estimator" that shows projected benefits for every single month between age 62 and 70, not just the major milestones. What really surprised me when I used it was seeing how the monthly increases compound - it's not just about getting more money per month, but about how those higher payments continue for the rest of your life. For someone expecting to live 20+ years in retirement, even small monthly delays can add up to tens of thousands in lifetime benefits. The tool also factors in your actual earnings history, so it's much more accurate than the general percentage formulas. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't already!

I'm also navigating this decision as someone turning 62 soon! After reading through all these helpful responses, I wanted to share something my CPA mentioned that might be useful - the timing of when you claim can also affect your tax planning strategy. If you're still working part-time or have other retirement income sources, claiming Social Security earlier might push you into a higher tax bracket or cause more of your benefits to be taxable. She suggested running scenarios not just for the benefit amounts, but for the total after-tax income at different claiming ages. Also, for anyone still employed, don't forget that you continue earning Social Security credits until age 70 if you're still paying into the system - so your benefit calculation could actually increase even beyond the delayed retirement credits if your recent earnings are higher than your historical average. It's amazing how many moving pieces there are to this decision!