CPP Timing: 60, 65 or 70?
The single biggest CPP decision is when to start. Taking it early shrinks the cheque 36%; waiting to 70 grows it 42%. This tool compares lifetime payouts, finds your breakeven age, and names the best start age for how long you expect to live.
Rates & rules verified · July 2026Primary sources: Canada.ca – CPP payment amounts
Cumulative CPP received by age
Total real dollars collected if you start at 60, 65 or 70. Where a later line crosses above an earlier one is that pair's breakeven age.
Lifetime total by start age
Everything you'd collect from each start age through your life expectancy. The tallest bar is the winner for this lifespan.
Every start age, 60 to 70
Monthly benefit, lifetime total to your life expectancy, and breakeven vs starting at 65. The highlighted row is the best start age.
| Start age | Monthly | vs 65 | Lifetime total | Breakeven vs 65 |
|---|
How this is calculated
The adjustment factors (0.6% and 0.7%)
Your monthly CPP at a chosen start age is your age-65 amount times an adjustment factor. Start early and it drops 0.6% × months before 65, up to −36% at 60. Start late and it rises 0.7% × months after 65, up to +42% at 70. So monthly benefit = base₆₅ × factor(age), where factor(60) = 0.64 and factor(70) = 1.42.
Why this is a "real" (inflation-indexed) analysis
CPP is fully indexed to the Consumer Price Index every January, so its purchasing power holds over time. That means we can compare start ages in today's dollars without guessing at inflation, the cheque you get at 85 buys the same as the cheque today. Cumulative total = Σ monthly benefit over every month you're alive from your start age to your life expectancy. To name the single best age we compute this lifetime total for every whole start age from 60 to 70 and pick the highest, so the winner can be an in-between age like 68 or 69, not just 60, 65 or 70.
The breakeven age
The breakeven between two start ages is the age where the later, larger pension has paid out as much in total as the earlier, smaller one. With a 0% return that's roughly age 74 for 60-vs-65 and age 82 for 65-vs-70. Live longer than the breakeven and waiting wins; live shorter and starting early wins.
Investing the early payments
If you'd invest each early cheque rather than spend it, set a real (after-inflation) return. We grow the accumulated benefits monthly at (1 + real%)^(1/12) − 1. A positive return makes money-in-hand-now more valuable, pushing every breakeven age later and tilting the answer toward starting early. At 0% the tool compares plain totals.
The 8.4%/yr "guaranteed return" framing
Deferring from 65 to 70 raises your pension 8.4% per year (0.7%/mo × 12), on top of inflation indexing. No annuity or bond offers a guaranteed, inflation-protected 8.4%, which is why healthy people with other income to bridge the gap often come out ahead by waiting.
The 2019 enhancement
CPP is being enhanced: contributions since 2019 gradually raise the maximum benefit to about one-third of covered earnings for people retiring in later decades. Your own My Service Canada estimate already reflects your enhanced entitlement, use the Custom option and enter it for the most accurate result.
GIS interaction (important for low income)
The Guaranteed Income Supplement is income-tested and clawed back at roughly 50¢ per dollar of other income. A bigger CPP cheque can reduce or wipe out GIS, so for seniors who will rely on GIS the "obvious" advice to defer can backfire. This tool models CPP alone, get advice if GIS is in play.
OAS deferral (one-liner)
Old Age Security has its own separate deferral: +0.6%/month (+36% at 70), but it is not reduced for starting early because OAS can't start before 65. See the retirement planner to model CPP, OAS and your portfolio together.
What this doesn't model
Income tax on benefits, the CPP post-retirement benefit if you keep working, survivor/disability provisions, the drop-in provisions in your own benefit calculation, and GIS/OAS-clawback interactions. It also evaluates whole-year start ages only (60, 61, … 70); CPP can actually begin in any month, so your true optimal month may fall between two of these ages. It compares CPP start-age timing only.
Common questions
Is it better to take CPP at 60, 65 or 70?
It depends on how long you live. Taking CPP early at 60 cuts your monthly amount by 36%; waiting to 70 raises it by 42%. If you live past your breakeven age, typically around 74 for the 60-vs-65 choice and around 82 for the 65-vs-70 choice, waiting pays more in total. Someone in good health with other income usually comes out ahead by deferring; someone in poor health or who needs the cash is usually better off starting early.
How much is CPP reduced if I take it early at 60?
CPP is reduced by 0.6% for each month you start before 65, that is 7.2% per year, or a permanent 36% reduction if you start at exactly 60. On the average 2026 benefit of about $877/month at 65, starting at 60 gives roughly $561/month for life.
How much more CPP do I get by waiting until 70?
CPP increases by 0.7% for each month you delay past 65, 8.4% per year, or a permanent 42% increase at age 70. Because CPP is fully indexed to inflation, that 8.4% per year is effectively a guaranteed, inflation-protected return you cannot buy in the private market. On the maximum 2026 benefit, waiting from 65 to 70 raises it from about $1,508 to about $2,141 per month.
What is the CPP breakeven age?
The breakeven age is the age at which the larger deferred pension has paid out as much in total as the smaller early pension. With no investment return assumed, the 65-vs-70 breakeven is around age 82 and the 60-vs-65 breakeven is around age 74. If you invest the early payments at a positive real return, the breakeven ages move later, favouring taking CPP sooner.
Does taking CPP early affect the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)?
Yes. GIS is income-tested, so a larger CPP cheque can reduce or eliminate your GIS. For low-income seniors who will rely on GIS, taking CPP early, or the interaction between CPP and GIS, needs careful planning, because extra CPP can be clawed back through lost GIS at roughly 50 cents on the dollar.