What is the best age to start your Social Security benefits? What if you start at 62 with reduced benefits, but invest and get compound interest? Or is it a good idea for you to wait until 70 for increased benefits?
The Social Security Calculator is a powerful estimating tool that can answer these questions and help you plan for retirement.
[ Features ]
• Estimates the most profitable starting age for your benefits based on your income and life expectancy
• Calculates your potential lifetime net income for all benefit starting ages so you can easily compare the results
• Your date of birth and benefit amount at full retirement age are all you need to know (benefits at FRA can be found on your Social Security statement or by creating an account on SSA.gov)
• Optionally include other monthly income, an interest rate for income, monthly expenses, and an interest rate for expenses
• Optionally disable paying down expenses (potentially useful in situations when compounding income exceeds compounding expenses)
• Detailed results are presented in interactive Summary, Spreadsheet, and Graph formats
• Calculation inputs can be labeled and saved for quick retrieval and comparison
• Robust in-app help via information buttons, getting started guide, glossary, and links to additional resources
[ Interactive Results ]
• Summary - a table of life expectancy ages with their most profitable starting ages for benefits. Rows can be expanded to show your estimated lifetime net income for every life expectancy age. The lifetime net income rows can be tapped to highlight the corresponding cell in the Spreadsheet.
• Spreadsheet - detailed spreadsheet format showing your estimated lifetime net income for all Social Security starting ages and life expectancy ages. Each lifetime net income cell can be tapped to show more detailed information. The differences in lifetime net income amounts can be easily examined for all benefit starting ages.
• Graph - calculation results displayed as lines depicting estimated lifetime net income for each Social Security starting age. Clearly illustrates the differences in lifetime net income for all benefit starting ages. Any starting age line can be toggled on or off. Tapping a point on the graph will display more detailed information. Supports zooming to show increased granularity.
[ Disclaimer ]
We have carefully followed the benefit rules from the Social Security Administration and have tested to ensure that our calculations are as accurate as possible. However, since we are not affiliated with the SSA, this app is only intended to be used for reference. Before making a retirement decision we strongly recommend reviewing SSA.gov and other resources for more information. (The app links to several useful resources in Help > Additional Resources.)
Also please be aware that this app currently does not calculate spousal benefits or survivor benefits. If you would like us to add this functionality or have any other ideas to improve the app please let us know.
[ Credits ]
• App Design / Development - Denton Kollar
• Original Concept / Consulting - Paul Cichocki