Retirement Age

Quick answer

Your full retirement age depends on your birth year. It's 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954, rises in two-month steps for 1955 through 1959, and is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claiming Social Security at 62 cuts your monthly benefit by as much as 30%, while waiting until 70 grows it.

Your full retirement age (FRA) depends entirely on your birth year — it’s 66 if you were born between 1943 and 1954, steps up in two-month increments for birth years 1955 through 1959, and locks in at 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claiming Social Security at 62 cuts your monthly benefit by as much as 30%, while waiting until 70 grows it by 8% for every year past your FRA. The math matters a lot.

What Is Retirement Age and Why Does It Matter?

“Retirement age” sounds like a single number, but it’s actually three different thresholds — and confusing them is one of the most expensive mistakes pre-retirees make.

How the SSA Defines Full Retirement Age (FRA)

The Social Security Administration sets a full retirement age — the age at which you qualify for 100% of the monthly benefit you’ve earned. It’s not arbitrary; it’s written into law and tied directly to the year you were born. If you claim before your FRA, the SSA permanently reduces your check. If you wait, they permanently increase it.

The Difference Between Early, Full, and Delayed Retirement

Early retirement (age 62): You can claim Social Security starting the month you turn 62, but your benefit is reduced for every month you claim before your FRA.
Full retirement age (66–67): You receive 100% of your calculated benefit — no reduction, no bonus.
Delayed retirement (up to age 70): For every year past your FRA that you wait, the SSA adds an 8% delayed retirement credit to your monthly check.

How Your Birth Year Determines Your Retirement Age

Congress tied FRA to birth year in the 1983 Social Security Amendments. The table is fixed — there’s no wiggle room, no income-based exceptions. You just look up your birth year and find your number.

Is retirement age 62 or 67? Both are real thresholds, but they mean different things. Age 62 is the earliest you can claim; 67 is the full retirement age for people born in 1960 or later.

What age do you get 100% of your Social Security? That depends on your birth year — anywhere from 66 (if you were born before 1955) to 67 (if you were born in 1960 or later).

Here’s the complete SSA birth-year chart for full retirement age. Every row below comes directly from SSA rules — not estimates.

Full Retirement Age Chart: Birth Years 1950–1969 and Beyond

Birth Year	Full Retirement Age
1950	66
1951	66
1952	66
1953	66
1954	66
1955	66 and 2 months
1956	66 and 4 months
1957	66 and 6 months
1958	66 and 8 months
1959	66 and 10 months
1960 and later	67

Note: Birth years 1961 through 1969 — and everyone born after — all share a full retirement age of 67. The graduated scale stopped at 1960.

A Closer Look at Key Birth Years

1958 — FRA is 66 and 8 months

If you were born in 1958, you reach full retirement age at 66 years and 8 months. Claiming at 62 means you’re claiming roughly 56 months early, which translates to a permanent benefit reduction of around 27.5%.

1959 — FRA is 66 and 10 months

Born in 1959? Your FRA is 66 years and 10 months. You can apply for Social Security benefits up to four months before you want them to start, so if you want benefits beginning at your FRA, you’d apply around age 66 and 6 months. If you were born in 1959 and want to apply at 62, you can do so starting the month you turn 62 — but expect a benefit reduction of roughly 28.3%.

1960 — FRA is 67

This is the birth year where the graduated scale ends. If you were born in 1960, your FRA is a clean 67, and every birth year after yours shares the same number.

1961 and 1962 — FRA is 67

Same rule. Born in 1961 or 1962? Your full retirement age is 67.

1963 and 1964 — FRA is 67

No change here. The FRA has been 67 for all birth years from 1960 onward under current law.

1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, and later — FRA is 67

Whether you were born in 1965 or 1999, the law currently sets your full retirement age at 67. That’s where things stand unless Congress changes the rules — more on that below.

Knowing when you can claim is only half the equation. Knowing how much you’ll get is the other half.

How Your Monthly Benefit Is Calculated

The SSA bases your benefit on your 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for inflation. That number produces your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) — the monthly check you’d receive if you claimed exactly at your FRA. Claim early and a percentage of that PIA is subtracted permanently. Wait and a percentage is added permanently.

Claiming at 62 when your FRA is 67 means you’re claiming 60 months early. The SSA reduces your benefit by:

5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before FRA
5/12 of 1% for each additional month before that

The result: if your FRA benefit would be $2,000/month, claiming at 62 drops it to roughly $1,400/month — a 30% permanent reduction.

If your FRA is 66 and 10 months (birth year 1959) and you claim exactly at your FRA, you get 100% of your PIA — no reduction, no bonus. Claiming even one month early trims the check slightly.

There’s no single income threshold because the SSA’s benefit formula is progressive — it replaces a higher percentage of income for lower earners. But as a rough benchmark: to receive around $3,000/month at your FRA, you’d typically need to have averaged roughly $100,000–$120,000 per year in inflation-adjusted earnings over your 35 highest-earning years. The SSA’s “my Social Security” portal at ssa.gov will show you your personalized estimate based on your actual earnings record — that’s the only number you should trust.

This is the question everyone wants answered, and there’s no universal right answer. It depends on your health, your other income sources, and your spouse’s situation.

Pros and Cons of Claiming at 62

Pros:

Money in your pocket sooner
Useful if you have health issues or a shorter life expectancy
Can make sense if you need income to avoid drawing down savings

Cons:

Permanent 25–30% reduction in monthly benefits
Spousal and survivor benefits also shrink
You’ll need more income from other sources to compensate

Why 67 Works for Most People Born After 1960

Claiming at your FRA means no reduction and no waiting game. You get your full calculated benefit, which is the baseline the SSA designed the system around. For most people in average health, this is the cleanest option.

How Delayed Retirement Credits Work Past FRA

For every year you delay claiming past your FRA — up to age 70 — the SSA adds 8% per year to your benefit. Wait all four years past a FRA of 67, and a $2,000/month benefit becomes roughly $2,640/month. That’s a 32% permanent increase.

Break-Even Analysis: When Does Waiting Actually Pay Off?

If you delay from 62 to 70, your monthly check is significantly larger — but you collected nothing for eight years. The “break-even” age is typically somewhere around 78–82, depending on your specific numbers. If you expect to live well past 80, waiting tends to win mathematically. If your health suggests otherwise, claiming earlier may make more sense.

Can you retire at 62 and still get Social Security? Yes — 62 is the minimum claiming age. You just accept the permanent reduction.

Can you retire at 55 and collect Social Security? No. The Social Security retirement program doesn’t allow claims before 62, period. (Social Security Disability Insurance has different rules, but that’s a separate program.)

When Was Retirement Age 55? A History of U.S. Retirement Age

What Was the Retirement Age in 1950, 1960, and 1970?

When Social Security was created in 1935, the full retirement age was set at 65 — and it stayed there for nearly 50 years. Age 55 was never the Social Security retirement age; the confusion usually comes from private pension plans and public-sector jobs (police, firefighters, military) that historically allowed retirement at 55 with full pension benefits.

How the 1983 Reforms Changed Everything

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 — signed under President Reagan — gradually raised the FRA from 65 to 67 to address the program’s long-term funding gap. The change phased in slowly: people born in 1937 or earlier kept a 65 FRA, and the increase stepped up gradually until landing at 67 for the 1960 birth cohort.

When Did Early Claiming at 62 Begin?

Early claiming was introduced in 1956 for women and 1961 for men, well before the 1983 reforms. The 62 threshold was originally meant to help workers in physically demanding jobs who couldn’t realistically work to 65. It stuck, even as FRA moved upward.

Why Some Plans Still Use Age 55

Many state and local government pension systems, union contracts, and the military still allow full retirement at 55 — sometimes even earlier. These are entirely separate from Social Security. A retired firefighter at 55 can draw their pension but still can’t touch Social Security retirement benefits until 62 at the absolute earliest.

Is the Retirement Age Going Up? Proposals to Raise It to 70 or 72

Current Legislative Proposals

Several proposals in recent years have floated raising the Social Security full retirement age to 70 or even 72, driven by concerns about the program’s long-term solvency. The Social Security trust funds face a projected shortfall in the coming decades, and raising the FRA is one of the levers lawmakers have historically pulled.

Are They Changing the Retirement Age in 2026?

As of current law, no change to the full retirement age is scheduled for 2026. The FRA for people born in 1960 or later is 67 — and that number won’t shift unless Congress passes new legislation and a president signs it. Keep an eye on any budget reconciliation bills or bipartisan Social Security reform packages, but no change has been enacted as of this writing.

What Raising the FRA to 72 Would Mean for You

If the FRA were raised to 72, anyone who claims at 67 would be in the same position as today’s early claimers — receiving a permanently reduced benefit. The effective impact would be a substantial benefit cut for the majority of retirees who currently claim between 62 and 67.

Arguments For and Against

For raising the retirement age:

Americans are living longer on average than when FRA was last set
Extending the working years strengthens the trust fund

Against:

Life expectancy gains haven’t been distributed equally — lower-income and minority workers haven’t seen the same longevity increases
Many workers in physically demanding jobs genuinely can’t work into their late 60s or early 70s
Raising the FRA is functionally a benefit cut, not a structural reform

Retirement Age Calculator: Find Your Exact Full Retirement Age

Using the SSA’s Official Calculator

The SSA offers a retirement age calculator at ssa.gov that pinpoints your exact FRA based on your birth date — not just your birth year, but the specific month. It also lets you model your benefit at different claiming ages. If you haven’t already created a “my Social Security” account, it’s worth doing: you’ll see your full earnings history and a personalized benefit estimate at 62, at FRA, and at 70.

How Annuities Can Fill the Income Gap

If you’re thinking about retiring before your FRA — or you want guaranteed income that doesn’t depend on when you claim Social Security — an annuity is worth understanding. An annuity converts a lump sum into a predictable monthly payment for life, which can bridge the gap between your retirement date and the age at which your Social Security check reaches full size. If you’re shopping for retirement income that runs on your schedule rather than the SSA’s, a free annuity quote can show you what kind of monthly income your savings could generate.

Is the retirement age going up to 70?

No change is law yet. Several proposals have suggested raising the full retirement age to 70 or 72 to address Social Security’s funding gap, but as of now, the FRA remains 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Any change would require new legislation — and would almost certainly include a long phase-in period before it affected people close to retirement.

Is retirement age 62 or 67?

Both numbers are real, but they mean different things. Age 62 is the earliest you can claim Social Security retirement benefits. Age 67 is the full retirement age for people born in 1960 or later — the age at which you receive 100% of your earned benefit. Claiming at 62 instead of 67 permanently reduces your monthly check by up to 30%.

You receive 100% of your Primary Insurance Amount at your full retirement age (FRA). That’s 66 for those born before 1955, rises in two-month steps for birth years 1955–1959, and is 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. Waiting past FRA up to age 70 earns you more than 100% — 8% extra per year of delay.

No. Social Security retirement benefits cannot be claimed before age 62, full stop. You may be thinking of private pension plans or public-sector retirement systems — police, firefighters, military — which sometimes allow retirement with full pension benefits at 55. Those are separate from Social Security entirely.

There’s no single income figure because the SSA’s formula is progressive. Roughly speaking, you’d typically need to have averaged around $100,000–$120,000 per year in inflation-adjusted earnings over your 35 highest-earning years to receive approximately $3,000/month at your FRA. Your personalized estimate is available through the SSA’s “my Social Security” portal at ssa.gov.

Are they changing the retirement age in 2026?

No change is scheduled for 2026. Under current law, the full retirement age is already 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later, and no legislation has been passed to adjust that further. Proposals exist — raising FRA to 70 or 72 has been discussed — but none have been signed into law.

Yes. Age 62 is the minimum claiming age for Social Security retirement benefits. You can retire and start collecting at 62, but your monthly benefit will be permanently reduced — by as much as 30% compared to what you’d receive at your full retirement age. If you’re in good health and can afford to wait, delaying generally produces a larger lifetime payout.