--- title: Should You Claim Social Security Early If Your Parents Died in Their 70s? description: It's important to consider longevity when claiming Social Security benefits. Here's how to think about your parents' lifespans. authors: - name: Marc Guberti url: https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/ bio: Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations. at_money_since: 2024 articles: 448 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes published: '2026-10-27T13:30:18.000Z' section: Retirement word_count: 500 canonical: https://money.com/social-security-claiming-age-family-longevity/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Tax Refund Check](https://img.money.com/2026/10/Explainer-Social-Security-Claim-Early-Parents.jpg) When determining at what age you should claim Social Security, you’ll likely want to consider longevity. If someone waits to claim Social Security until age 70 to get the maximum benefit but passes away soon after, they could have benefited from claiming earlier. Because you typically need to live into your 80s for waiting to become worth it, you may consider how long your parents lived. But that’s not necessarily a strong predictor for how long you will live. Here are some key details to consider as you assess the best time to take out Social Security. ## Should you consider genetics? The age your parents passed away isn’t a full predictor of how long you will live. Lifestyle, healthcare and treatments likely matter more than your family’s health history. Plus, health care has advanced to make certain causes of death easier to treat and prevent. It makes more sense to look at your own health and body when assessing how long you will live. Some people pass away in their early 60s due to bad health, while their children may live into their 70s and 80s thanks to healthy habits and an emphasis on fitness. In other words, just because your parents passed away in their 70s does not mean you will, too. ## The Social Security Administration's tool The Social Security Administration offers a life expectancy calculator that projects how long the average person will live. It’s a way for people in their 60s to assess how much longer they will live, but it offers no guarantee. The life expectancy calculator only asks for your date of birth and sex. That information lets the Social Security Administration offer a rough estimate, but it doesn’t factor critical details, such as your health history, fitness, eating habits and daily hours of sleep. ## Splitting the difference When it comes to claiming Social Security, you don’t have to choose between the two extremes of claiming at age 62 and age 70. Some people wait a little later until they reach 64 or full retirement age before committing to benefits. Receiving benefits before reaching full retirement age may make a portion of your benefits eligible for withholding, depending on whether you still work. However, those withholding rules go away the moment you reach full retirement age. There is a lot of flexibility regarding when you claim benefits. You don’t have to claim the moment you turn 62, and you also don’t have to wait until your 70th birthday. ## What married couples should consider Married couples have another key factor to consider when planning out their claiming window. If the higher-earning spouse secures a higher benefit, that also results in a higher survivor benefit for the lower-earning spouse. If the lower-earning spouse is younger than the higher-earning spouse, then it may make more sense for the higher earner to delay claiming benefits for as long as possible. 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