You can start Social Security at 62 if you have earned 40 work credits, but filing that early permanently reduces your monthly check by 25 to 30 percent, depending on the year you were born. The rules below cover who qualifies, how much smaller the payment gets, how work and taxes interact with early benefits, and the health coverage gap you will need to fill until Medicare starts at 65.
Who Qualifies at 62
Retirement benefits require 40 work credits, which is roughly ten years of employment where you paid Social Security taxes.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility In 2026, one credit equals $1,890 in covered earnings, and you can earn up to four credits a year, so $7,560 in wages or self-employment income covers a full year.2Social Security Administration. Quarter of Coverage Credits stay on your record for life once earned. You do not have to be working when you file.
You also have to be 62 for a full calendar month before a payment can arrive. The Social Security Administration follows the old common-law rule that treats you as reaching an age the day before your birthday. If you turn 62 on the first or second of a month, that whole month counts. If your birthday falls later, your first payable month is the one after.3Social Security Administration. POMS RS 00615.015 – How the Day of Birth Affects Benefits
How Much Your Benefit Drops
The reduction is permanent and depends on how many months before your full retirement age you file. For the first 36 months early, the check drops by 5/9 of 1 percent per month, or about 6.67 percent a year. For any months beyond 36, each additional month cuts 5/12 of 1 percent, or about 5 percent a year.4Social Security Administration. Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement
What that means in practice depends on your birth year:
- Born 1943 to 1954, full retirement age 66: filing at 62 is 48 months early, a 25 percent cut.5Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
- Born 1955 to 1959, full retirement age between 66 and 2 months and 66 and 10 months: the cut lands between 25 and 30 percent.
- Born 1960 or later, full retirement age 67: filing at 62 is 60 months early, a 30 percent cut.4Social Security Administration. Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement
In dollars, a worker with a full retirement age of 67 whose benefit at 67 would be $2,000 a month gets $1,400 a month at 62. The largest possible monthly benefit for someone retiring at 62 in 2026 is $2,969.6Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Payable? Annual cost-of-living adjustments still apply, but on a smaller base, so the dollar increase is smaller too.
Working After You File
You can hold a job while collecting, but if your wages cross the annual earnings limit, the agency temporarily withholds part of your benefit. In 2026, if you stay under full retirement age all year, the limit is $24,480, and Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above it.7Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working In the year you reach full retirement age, the limit for the months before your birthday rises to $65,160 and the withholding rate softens to $1 for every $3.
Earn $34,480 in a year while under full retirement age and you are $10,000 over the cap, so $5,000 in benefits gets held back. That money is not gone. When you reach full retirement age, the agency recalculates your payment to credit the withheld months, and your check goes up from that point on. Only wages and self-employment income count; pensions, investment income, and retirement account withdrawals do not.
Taxes on Early Benefits
Federal income tax on Social Security depends on your “combined income,” which is your adjusted gross income plus any nontaxable interest plus half of your benefits. The thresholds have not moved since 1993.
- Single filer with combined income above $25,000: up to 50 percent of benefits become taxable.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 915 – Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits
- Single filer above $34,000: up to 85 percent taxable.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 86 – Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement Benefits
- Married filing jointly above $32,000: up to 50 percent taxable.
- Married filing jointly above $44,000: up to 85 percent taxable.
Married and filing separately while living with your spouse at any time during the year puts up to 85 percent of your benefits into taxable territory regardless of income. If you claim early and keep working, wages can push you over these lines even though the benefit itself is reduced.
The Medicare Gap Until 65
Starting Social Security at 62 does not start Medicare. Medicare eligibility is still 65 for most people, so early retirees need to bridge three years of health coverage on their own — through a spouse’s employer plan, the health insurance marketplace, or COBRA from a former job.10Social Security Administration. Medicare The only routes to Medicare before 65 are 24 months of Social Security disability benefits, ALS, or permanent kidney failure. Retiring early on your own record does not qualify.
Spousal Benefits at 62
A current or former spouse (from a marriage of at least ten years) can collect up to 50 percent of the other spouse’s full retirement age benefit. Claiming that spousal benefit at 62 shrinks it by as much as 35 percent if your full retirement age is 67.5Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
If you were born in 1954 or later, “deemed filing” applies. When you file for either your own retirement or a spousal benefit before full retirement age, the agency treats it as filing for both. You get whichever is higher, but both are permanently reduced.11Social Security Administration. Filing Rules for Retirement and Spouses Benefits You cannot take a spousal check at 62 while letting your own benefit keep growing.
What It Does to Your Surviving Spouse
If you claim reduced benefits at 62 and later die, your surviving spouse’s benefit is generally calculated from that reduced amount rather than your full retirement age figure.12Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits A widow or widower can collect survivor benefits as early as 60, or 50 with a disability, but any survivor claim before their own full retirement age is reduced further.13Social Security Administration. See Your Full Retirement Age (FRA) for Survivor Benefits If you are the higher earner in the household, filing at 62 lowers a check your spouse may rely on for decades.
How to Apply
You can file up to four months before you want payments to begin.14Social Security Administration. More Info: When To Start Benefits Three options are open:
- Online through the “my Social Security” portal at ssa.gov, with electronic signature and a confirmation receipt.
- By phone at 1-800-772-1213, or TTY 1-800-325-0778, to schedule an interview.
- In person at a local Social Security office, ideally by appointment.15Social Security Administration. Form SSA-1 – Information You Need To Apply For Retirement Benefits Or Medicare
Have these ready before you start: your Social Security number and your current or former spouse’s; bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit; W-2s or self-employment tax returns from the past year; names and addresses of your employers for this year and last; and the specific month you want benefits to start. Processing usually takes about six weeks, ending with an award letter that spells out your monthly amount and first deposit date.
If You Change Your Mind
Early filers get one chance to undo the decision. You can withdraw your application within 12 months of approval, but you have to pay back every dollar you and your family received, including anything withheld for Medicare premiums, federal taxes, or garnishments.16Social Security Administration. Cancel Your Benefits Application Medical expenses covered by Medicare Part A during that time also have to be repaid to Medicare. Withdrawal is a one-time option. After the 12-month window closes, the reduced benefit is locked in, though you still get annual cost-of-living adjustments and any earnings-test recalculation once you reach full retirement age.