Who's filing?
Toggle off if you're running this for one person only. With spouse on, the calculator handles spousal benefits and the survivor drop automatically.
You (Primary)
Spouse
Filing scenarios to compare
Your planned age is highlighted. The other three are stress-test scenarios — earliest possible (62), full retirement age (67), and maximize (70).
Your Planned Filing
Earliest 62
FRA 67
Maximize 70
Inflation assumptions
SS COLA averaged ~2.6% over the last 20 years. Real cost-of-living for retirees (medical + housing weighted) typically runs higher. Dial both to see the gap.
View historical SS COLA, 2000–2026
Actual SSA cost-of-living adjustments. The 26-year average is ~2.6%. Default of 2.5% reflects the recent 10-year norm.
*2026 is an RLF estimate; the SSA announces the actual COLA each October. Source: ssa.gov/cola
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Want a clean copy of your numbers and a walkthrough of how the publicly available SSA rules produced them? Enter your info and we'll email you a personalized copy of your filing comparison plus a brief explanation of why each scenario produces the numbers it does. Not financial advice. Not a sales call. Just math help.
What Happens Next
Hans will personally walk through your numbers and email you within 24 hours with a plain-English explanation of how the publicly available SSA rules produced them. This is free educational math help from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — not a financial advisor relationship, not a recommendation, not a sales call.
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This tool runs the math. Hans walks through how the publicly available SSA rules produce your specific numbers. Pure math education, not financial advice. No products sold. No pressure.
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