Nearly Half of Americans Have Turned to AI for Financial Decisions. At 62, He Asks a Chatbot When to Claim Social Security, and $1,080 a Month Is at Stake
Gerelyn Terzo
6 min read
Quick Read
49% of Americans used AI for financial decisions last year, but Social Security claiming age permanently shapes monthly income for life.
Claiming Social Security at 70 instead of 62 pays $1,080 more per month, but requires forgoing $134,400 in checks with breakeven around age 80.
Early claiming locks in a permanent reduction, shrinking every future cost-of-living adjustment, making it the hardest Social Security mistake to undo.
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Ask a chatbot whether to claim Social Security at 62 or 70 and you will get a confident answer in seconds. A lot of people are asking these kinds of questions. A TD Bank survey released October 6 found that 49% of Americans used AI to research or make a personal financial decision in the past year. Of those users, 83% checked the guidance somewhere else.
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That second trend is the encouraging one. The survey asked about money decisions in general and did not look at Social Security claiming. Still, claiming is a decision where double-checking pays off.
Consider Mark, 62, who's asking an AI assistant whether to start collecting Social Security now or wait until 70. His decision will shape his monthly income for the rest of his life. But the choice isn't only about getting a bigger check. Mark may value having the money now, while he's healthy enough to enjoy retirement.
Your Birth Year Sets the Rules Before Any Chatbot Weighs In
If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. Claim at 62 and you lock in 70% of your full benefit. Wait until 70 and delayed retirement credits raise it to 124%. Those percentages come from Social Security's formula, and no AI recommendation can change them.
Say Mark's full benefit at 67 is $2,000 a month in today's dollars. Here is his check at each age:
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Claiming Age
Monthly Benefit
62
$1,400
67
$2,000
70
$2,480
Claiming at 70 instead of 62 means $1,080 more every month, or $12,960 a year, before cost-of-living adjustments. Those raises are percentages, so a bigger base gets a bigger raise in dollars. The 2027 adjustment is 3.6%.
Waiting has a cost, though. Delaying from 62 to 70 means giving up 96 checks of $1,400, or $134,400. With an additional $1,080 coming in every month afterward, Mark would catch up around age 80. That's a simplified calculation that leaves out inflation, taxes and what he might have earned by investing the earlier payments. Living longer makes waiting more attractive, but it doesn't ensure he'll come out ahead.
Where Savings, Paychecks and Taxes Shift the Answer
Waiting until 70 means Mark needs another way to cover his expenses in the meantime. He might keep working, draw from savings or use a combination of both. Taking money from a traditional IRA or 401(k) earlier could also shrink the balance subject to required withdrawals later, although the tax consequences deserve a closer look.
Taxes come into play once other income sits on top of benefits. The IRS adds one-half of your benefits plus all your other income, including tax-exempt interest. Once that total passes $25,000 for single filers or $32,000 on a joint return, part of your benefits can become taxable. Waiting to claim may change how much Mark withdraws from his IRA, but whether that lowers his tax bill depends on his overall income.
If Mark keeps working part time before 67, Social Security will hold back some of his benefits once his earnings pass $24,480 in 2026. That limit rises to $25,560 in 2027. Plan for Medicare as well. The standard Part B premium of about $203 a month usually comes out of your check, so the amount that lands in your account will be less than any calculator's gross figure.
Use AI to Map the Trade-Offs, Then Verify the Numbers
AI is good at exploring scenarios. Ask it to compare lifetime income at 62, 67 and 70 under different life expectancies. Have it show how each choice affects your savings withdrawals and tax bill. If you're married, ask what your spouse would get as a survivor, since the higher earner's delayed check can become the survivor's check.
Next, log in to your my Social Security account. It shows your estimated benefit at each age based on your actual earnings record. A chatbot can only work with the numbers you give it.
Claiming early by default is the hardest mistake to undo. Once benefits start, the reduction stays for life, and every future inflation adjustment is figured on that smaller base. Waiting until 70 tends to work best for people in good health who have savings to cover the gap and maybe a spouse who would inherit the bigger check.
Your health, your marriage and the size of your savings can each tip the answer. Run your own numbers before anyone's recommendation, human or machine, becomes your plan.
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