Why so many Americans leave Social Security money on the table

More than half of working Americans worry about outliving their money in retirement, yet many of those same people plan to begin collecting Social Security benefits early — leaving money on the table.

If you delay benefits from your full retirement age (for most people, that's 67) until age 70, you earn delayed retirement credits — about an 8% increase each year until you hit 70.

But more than a quarter of Social Security beneficiaries begin claiming benefits at age 62, as soon as they're eligible, even though their monthly benefit may be slashed by as much as 30%.

Just 10% expect to hold off until age 70.

"There is no single right age for claiming Social Security," said Deb Boyden, head of US defined contribution at Schroders, which recently published its retirement survey for 2026. "What stands out, though, is how remarkably consistent this behavior has been."

In 2024, 43% of nonretired Americans said they planned to begin claiming Social Security before age 67. That increased to 44% in 2025, Boyden said.

For now, Social Security pays, on average, about $25,000 a year in retirement benefits — scarcely enough to get by comfortably.

The size of your Social Security check depends on your work history, lifetime earnings, retirement age, and the year you start claiming benefits.

Most Americans don't wait or simply can't delay until age 70 to start collecting benefits, but if you can, you wind up with more cash in your bank account.

People know that. They've done the math, according to the new findings.

So what's driving these self-defeating choices? Financial need, more than likely.

"It suggests that financial necessity and financial confidence may matter more than knowledge alone," Boyden said.

Americans are willing to forgo that extra monthly income, despite their angst about running short in retirement. "Their reasons are practical," she added.

They include things like expecting to need the money sooner to live on, wanting access to it as soon as possible, or concerns that Social Security may run out of money or stop making payments.

To Boyden, that suggests many Americans are making personal decisions "based on current financial realities" rather than thinking about maximizing their Social Security checks in the future.

The main reason people start their Social Security checks before they get to age 70 is "first and foremost their income needs," said Jacob Cornell, a financial adviser based in Sarasota, Fla.