CPP at 60 vs 65 — Break-Even Calculator
Taking CPP at 60 means five more years of cheques, each one 36% smaller. Waiting to 65 means a bigger cheque that catches up later. Enter your own estimated pension to see where the two cross over — and how the totals stack up if you live to 85 or beyond.
Break-even age (start at 60 vs 65)
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| By age | Total if you start at 60 | Total if you start at 65 | Who's ahead |
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How the 60-vs-65 choice works
CPP lets you start any time from age 60 to 70. Start before 65 and your pension is cut by 0.6% for every month early — 7.2% a year — so starting at exactly 60 locks in a 36% smaller cheque for life. The trade is real money now versus more money later: at 60 you collect for five extra years before the person who waited gets anything, but from 65 on, their un-reduced pension is larger every single month and slowly erases your head start.
The point where the two lifetime totals meet is the break-even age. Live past it and waiting to 65 wins on total dollars; fall short of it and starting at 60 wins. The calculator above finds that age from your own numbers and then shows the running totals at 70, 75, 80, 85 and 90 so you can see the gap, not just the crossover.
Why the break-even age is the same for everyone
Here's the part most people don't expect: the break-even age comes out to about 73.9 — just before 74 — no matter how large or small your CPP is. The head start you bank by taking it early and the monthly catch-up the bigger pension gives after 65 both scale with your pension amount, so they cancel out. Only the 36% reduction drives the crossover. Your own figure changes how many dollars are on the table at each age — which is what the table shows — but not the age where the lines cross.
That means the honest version of this decision isn't really "run the math to find your number." The math gives roughly the same answer for everyone. The real question is whether you expect to be collecting past your mid-70s, and whether you need — or would rather have — the money in your 60s.
What this doesn't factor in
This is a clean, before-everything-else comparison of the cheques themselves. It doesn't model income tax, the effect of CPP on income-tested benefits like the Guaranteed Income Supplement or OAS clawback, what you might earn by investing early payments, or your own health and family longevity. It uses today's dollars and doesn't try to guess future inflation adjustments — CPP is indexed, but that indexing lifts both the early and the later pension, so it barely moves the break-even. Treat the result as the starting point for a conversation, not the final word.
This page covers 60 versus 65 only. Deferring past 65 — up to age 70, where the pension is 42% larger — is a different decision with a later break-even, and we'll cover it on its own page.
Common questions
Is it better to take CPP at 60 or 65?
It depends on longevity and need. Taking it at 60 gives five extra years of payments at 36% less per cheque; waiting to 65 gives a bigger cheque that overtakes the early total at about age 73–74. Past that, waiting wins on total dollars; before it, starting early does. Health, family history and cash needs matter as much as the math.
How much less is CPP if you take it at 60?
36% less. The reduction is 0.6% per month before 65 (7.2% a year), and 60 months early works out to 36%. A $1,000 pension at 65 becomes $640 at 60 — permanently, though still indexed to inflation.
What is the break-even age for CPP at 60 vs 65?
About 73.9 — just before 74 — and it's the same regardless of your pension amount, because the reduction (36%) is what drives it, not the dollars. Your own figure changes the size of the gap at each age, not the crossover age.
What is the maximum CPP at 65 in 2026?
$1,507.65 a month as of January 2026, but few people qualify for it. The average CPP retirement pension at 65 was about $877 a month in April 2026. Use your own estimate from My Service Canada Account for this calculator, not the maximum.