Whether a claimant starts receiving a lower amount of benefits early or a higher amount of benefits later, at some point he will "break even" or he will have reached the same amount of in paid out benefits from Social Security regardless of when he started receiving benefits. After he reaches the break-even point, a lower benefits check continues to be lower every month for the rest of his life, and a higher benefits check continues to be higher. That's why people who choose to receive Social Security benefits early often consider their break-even age the point at which they begin to lose money.