Social Security adds two-thirds of 1 percent to a worker’s retirement check for each month the worker waits past full retirement age. For anyone born in 1943 or later, that adds up to 8 percent for every full year of delay, the agency’s delayed retirement credits page says. The extra amount keeps building until the worker reaches age 70.

The credit is one of the few places where the retirement formula pays for patience in a predictable way, and it falls on the person with a choice to make: take the check at full retirement age or let it grow. Workers who have reached that age and have other income to live on, such as wages or savings, are the ones for whom the monthly credit is a live number.

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How does the monthly credit add up?

The credit is a percentage of the benefit a worker is entitled to at full retirement age. Two-thirds of 1 percent a month equals 8 percent a year, so the arithmetic is straightforward. As a round example, a worker entitled to $2,000 a month at full retirement age gains about $13.33 a month for each month of delay, or $160 a month after a full year.

A worker with a full retirement age of 67 who waits until 70 collects 36 months of credits. That is 24 percent, which would turn the $2,000 example into $2,480 a month. The $2,000 figure is an illustration, not a published amount.

Does the rate depend on when a worker was born?

It does. Social Security’s page lists a different delayed retirement credit for each group of birth years, and the rate was lower for people born earlier. The 12-month increase and the matching monthly figure are:

• Born 1933 to 1934: 5.5 percent, or 11/24 of 1 percent a month
• Born 1935 to 1936: 6.0 percent, or 1/2 of 1 percent a month
• Born 1937 to 1938: 6.5 percent, or 13/24 of 1 percent a month
• Born 1939 to 1940: 7.0 percent, or 7/12 of 1 percent a month
• Born 1941 to 1942: 7.5 percent, or 5/8 of 1 percent a month
• Born 1943 or later: 8.0 percent, or 2/3 of 1 percent a month

The last group covers nearly every worker who is still deciding, which is why two-thirds of 1 percent is the figure that matters.

Where does full retirement age fall?

The credits start at full retirement age, so that age sets the starting line. According to the notes on the agency’s maximum-earner benefit table, age 66 is the normal retirement age for people born in 1943 through 1954, and age 67 is the normal retirement age for people born in 1960 and later. Birth years in between fall at a point between the two.

A worker with a full retirement age of 67 has 36 months in which the credits can accrue, and one with a full retirement age of 66 has 48. The same table adds that retirement at 70 maximizes the effect of delayed retirement credits.

When does the increase stop, and when does it show up?

The page is explicit that the benefit increase stops when a worker reaches age 70. A worker who waits past that birthday gains nothing more from delay, so 70 is the practical end point for anyone choosing only on the credit.

The credits accrue monthly after full retirement age, but they do not all land in the first check. Social Security’s page explains that if a worker retires before 70, some credits are not applied until the January after benefits start. Its example is a worker whose full retirement age is 67 who starts at 69: the first benefit reflects credits through the year before the 69th birthday, and the credits earned in the year of that birthday are added the following January.

What is the credit worth for one household?

The percentage is fixed, but its value depends on the size of the underlying benefit and on how many months the household can wait. A larger benefit makes each month of delay worth more dollars, and a smaller one makes it worth fewer, even though the rate is identical.

That leaves the decision a household has to make on its own numbers: whether the extra 2/3 of 1 percent a month, up to the age-70 cap, outweighs the checks given up while waiting.

Deciding how many months to wait past full retirement age?

The detail that trips people up is that the credit stops at 70 and some of it is not applied until the January after benefits start, so a quick guess at the monthly gain can run ahead of the actual check.

The Social Security Claiming & Family Benefits Kit includes a claiming calculator (Excel) for claiming age, break-even and survivor benefits, and spousal and survivor sequencing worksheets. Part 3, The Age Decision: What Waiting Is Worth, is built around the same question as the credit: what each extra month is worth.

Find the break-even month for waiting with the Claiming & Family Benefits Kit →

More Financial Reading

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• 21 Ways Retirees Can Raise $1,000 Fast Without a Job

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.