In this article 11 sections
- Full retirement age by birth year
- What if you were born on January 1 or the 1st of a month?
- Why full retirement age matters
- How much you get at each claiming age
- Spouse benefits use the spouse’s own full retirement age
- Survivor benefits use a different table
- The earnings test ends at full retirement age
- Why it rose from 65 to 67, and whether it will rise again
- Find your own numbers
- About this guide
- Sources and check dates
Key points
- Your full retirement age is 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954. It rises by 2 months for each birth year from 1955, and it is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
- Born on January 1? Use the previous year. Born on the 1st of any month? Social Security figures your full retirement age as if you were born in the previous month.
- At full retirement age you get 100% of your full benefit. With a full retirement age of 67, starting at 62 pays 70% and waiting until 70 pays 124%, for life.
- Survivor benefits use a different table, which reaches 67 only for people born in 1962 or later. The earnings test stops in the month you reach your full retirement age.
Full retirement age is the age at which Social Security pays your full retirement benefit. The Social Security Administration (SSA) also calls it normal retirement age. The monthly amount you get at that age is your primary insurance amount, or PIA. Every other claiming age is figured as a percentage of it.
This guide answers one question: when is your full retirement age, and what changes when you reach it? For the wider picture, see our guide to Social Security benefits. It covers federal rules, not state taxes.
We checked every rule and figure below against SSA’s regulations, the Social Security Act, the Social Security Handbook, SSA’s operations manual and SSA’s own pages and publications on October 27, 2026. The sources are listed at the end.
Full retirement age by birth year
| Year of birth | Full retirement age | Months from 62 to full retirement age |
|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 66 | 48 |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 50 |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 52 |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 54 |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 56 |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 58 |
| 1960 or later | 67 | 60 |
The regulation behind this table, 20 CFR 404.409, sets each row by date of birth from January 2 of one year through January 1 of the next. That is why a January 1 birthday belongs to the row above.
By November 1, 2026, everyone born on or before January 1, 1960 had reached full retirement age. For everyone born January 2, 1960 or later it is 67, and the first of them reach it in January 2027.
What if you were born on January 1 or the 1st of a month?
Two birthday rules move the date, and both come from SSA:
- Born on January 1: SSA’s table note says people born on January 1 of any year “should refer to the normal retirement age for the previous year.”
- Born on the 1st of any month: “we figure your benefit (and your full retirement age) as if your birthday was in the previous month.”
The reason is a rule in the regulations: you reach an age on the day before your birthday. The Social Security Act sets full retirement age by the year you reach 62, and someone born on January 1, 1960 reaches 62 on December 31, 2021. That puts them in the group that reached 62 in 2021, whose full retirement age is 66 and 10 months.
The “When will you reach your NRA?” calculator on SSA’s normal retirement age page gives these results:
| Born | Full retirement age | Month you reach it |
|---|---|---|
| March 15, 1965 | 67 | March 2032 |
| March 1, 1965 | 67 | February 2032 |
| January 2, 1960 | 67 | January 2027 |
| January 1, 1960 | 66 and 10 months | October 2026 |
Our Social Security calculator has a box for a birthday on the 1st of the month. With a January 1960 birthday on the 1st and a $2,000 benefit at full retirement age, it shows a full retirement age of 66 and 10 months, reached in October 2026.
Why full retirement age matters
Full retirement age is the reference point for most Social Security rules. Here is what changes when you reach it.
- You get your full benefit. Starting in the month you reach full retirement age pays 100% of your PIA.
- Starting earlier costs a permanent cut. The cut is 5/9 of 1% a month for up to 36 months early, plus 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond 36. SSA’s Handbook says: “This reduction is permanent.” The math at 62 is in our guide to claiming Social Security at 62.
- Waiting longer earns delayed retirement credits. For anyone born in 1943 or later, each month you wait past full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%, which is 8% a year. “The benefit increase stops when you reach age 70.” Credits earned in the year you start may not be added until the following January. See waiting until 70.
- The earnings test ends. From the month you reach full retirement age, your earnings no longer reduce your benefits (more below).
- You can pause your benefit. The regulations let you voluntarily suspend benefits to earn delayed credits “for months during the period from full retirement age to age 70”, even if you started early. See suspending or withdrawing benefits.
- You can ask for back months. Once you are past full retirement age, you can start benefits up to six months before the month you apply, but SSA says “we cannot pay retroactive benefits for any month before you reached full retirement age or more than six months in the past.”
Two things full retirement age does not set. Medicare starts at 65, not at full retirement age: SSA’s retirement booklet describes Medicare as “our country’s health insurance plan for people who are age 65 or older.” And the age your required minimum distributions start is a separate rule in the tax code, covered in our guide to RMD age.
How much you get at each claiming age
For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. Here is what each starting age pays, as a share of your PIA and in dollars for a $2,000 PIA.
| Age you start | Share of your PIA | Monthly on a $2,000 PIA |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 70% | $1,400 |
| 63 | 75% | $1,500 |
| 64 | 80% | $1,600 |
| 65 | 86.67% | $1,733 |
| 66 | 93.33% | $1,867 |
| 67 | 100% | $2,000 |
| 68 | 108% | $2,160 |
| 69 | 116% | $2,320 |
| 70 | 124% | $2,480 |
Each row assumes benefits start in the month you reach that age. At 62 that works only for people born on the 2nd of a month, because you must be 62 for the whole month; our guide to claiming at 62 explains. The dollar figures are in today’s dollars, before future cost-of-living increases. Those increases do not change the shares: SSA’s Handbook says an increase to a reduced benefit “is reduced in proportion to the reduction in effect in the first month your benefits were elected”, and the law figures delayed credits as a percentage of the benefit. Run this example in our Social Security calculator: with a March 1965 birth and a $2,000 PIA, it shows full retirement age 67, reached in March 2032, and the same check at every age from 62 to 70.
If you were born from 1943 to 1959, your full retirement age is under 67, so every percentage is higher. SSA publishes the full table by birth year; it prints the shares as fractions, such as 74 1/6, which we round to two decimals.
| Year of birth | At 62 | At 63 | At 64 | At 65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 75% | 80% | 86.67% | 93.33% |
| 1955 | 74.17% | 79.17% | 85.56% | 92.22% |
| 1956 | 73.33% | 78.33% | 84.44% | 91.11% |
| 1957 | 72.5% | 77.5% | 83.33% | 90% |
| 1958 | 71.67% | 76.67% | 82.22% | 88.89% |
| 1959 | 70.83% | 75.83% | 81.11% | 87.78% |
| 1960 or later | 70% | 75% | 80% | 86.67% |
| Year of birth | At 66 | At 67 | At 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 100% | 108% | 132% |
| 1955 | 98.89% | 106.67% | 130.67% |
| 1956 | 97.78% | 105.33% | 129.33% |
| 1957 | 96.67% | 104% | 128% |
| 1958 | 95.56% | 102.67% | 126.67% |
| 1959 | 94.44% | 101.33% | 125.33% |
| 1960 or later | 93.33% | 100% | 124% |
We recomputed every cell from the reduction and credit rates above, and each one matches SSA’s printed table. SSA’s booklet puts the headline plainly: if you turn 62 in 2026, your benefit “would be about 30% lower than it would be at your full retirement age of 67.”
Spouse benefits use the spouse’s own full retirement age
A husband or wife can get a benefit based on the other’s work record. The spouse benefit is half of the worker’s PIA, and the spouse gets all of it only by starting at the spouse’s own full retirement age, which comes from the same table as above.
- Starting earlier reduces it, unless the spouse is caring for the worker’s child who is under 16 or disabled. The cut is 25/36 of 1% a month for up to 36 months early, plus 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond 36. If the spouse’s full retirement age is 67, starting at 62 pays 32.5% of the worker’s PIA. If it is 66, starting at 62 pays 35%.
- Waiting past the spouse’s full retirement age adds nothing. SSA says the payment is higher the longer you wait “up until your Full Retirement Age”. The worker’s delayed credits do not raise it either.
- A spouse with a work record of their own gets their own benefit first. The spouse benefit then adds only the amount by which half the worker’s PIA is larger than the spouse’s own PIA, reduced for the spouse’s age when it starts.
- The worker has to file first. SSA: “Your current spouse can’t get spouse’s benefits until you file for retirement benefits.”
More in our guide to spousal benefits.
Survivor benefits use a different table
A widow or widower can start survivor benefits as early as 60, so the law counts their early years from 60, not 62. The regulations give survivors their own table. SSA’s shortcut: survivors “should add 2 years to the year of birth shown in the table.”
| Year of birth | Full retirement age for survivor benefits | Full retirement age for your own retirement benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 1945 to 1954 | 66 | 66 |
| 1955 | 66 | 66 and 2 months |
| 1956 | 66 | 66 and 4 months |
| 1957 | 66 and 2 months | 66 and 6 months |
| 1958 | 66 and 4 months | 66 and 8 months |
| 1959 | 66 and 6 months | 66 and 10 months |
| 1960 | 66 and 8 months | 67 |
| 1961 | 66 and 10 months | 67 |
| 1962 or later | 67 | 67 |
Survivors born before 1945 have a full retirement age under 66; the regulation lists them. The January 1 rule applies here too. A surviving spouse who starts at 60 gets 71.5% of the deceased worker’s full benefit, rising to 100% at the survivor’s full retirement age. That full benefit includes any delayed credits the worker earned. If the worker started before full retirement age, the survivor’s check is limited to the larger of the worker’s reduced check and 82.5% of the worker’s PIA; the claiming at 62 guide works an example. One trap: for the earnings test, SSA uses your full retirement age for retirement benefits, “even if you are not entitled to retirement benefits.” Our guide to survivor benefits has the rest.
The earnings test ends at full retirement age
If you start benefits before full retirement age and keep working, SSA holds back benefits when your earnings pass a yearly limit:
| Year | Under full retirement age all year ($1 held back for every $2 above) | Year you reach full retirement age ($1 for every $3 above, months before it only) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $24,480 | $65,160 |
| 2027 | $25,560 | $67,920 |
From the month you reach full retirement age, there is no limit. SSA’s own example: you reach full retirement age in August 2026 and earn $66,000 from January through July, $840 over the $65,160 limit. SSA holds back $280. From August, you get your full benefit “no matter how much you earn.”
Money held back is not gone. At full retirement age SSA recalculates your benefit “to give you credit for the months we reduced or withheld benefits due to your excess earnings.” What counts as earnings, and the special first-year rule, are in our guide to the Social Security earnings limit.
Why it rose from 65 to 67, and whether it will rise again
Full retirement age was 65 for many years. The Social Security Amendments of 1983 (Public Law 98-21, signed April 20, 1983) raised it in two stages to 67. SSA says Congress made the change “because people are living longer and are generally healthier in older age.” The increase began with people born in 1938.
Under current law, 67 is the top. The Social Security Act sets full retirement age at 67 for everyone who reaches 62 after December 31, 2021, and it has no later step. Any further increase would take a new law. The earliest age for retirement benefits stays at 62.
Find your own numbers
Your PIA comes from your own earnings record. SSA’s online account at ssa.gov/myaccount shows estimates of your retirement benefit at different starting ages. Enter that figure and your birth date in our Social Security calculator to see your full retirement age, your check at every age from 62 to 70, and the break-even ages between them.
About this guide
Written by the Diversify Guy editorial desk. Diversify Guy is a pen name. It is the byline of our editorial team, not a single individual. We do not publish personal trading records or claim to be your adviser. We tell you where every figure came from so you can check it yourself. How we work and how we get paid.
This guide explains federal Social Security rules. It is not personalized financial, tax or legal advice. Diversify Guy earns affiliate commissions and advertising fees from companies featured elsewhere on the site. This page carries no ads and no affiliate links.
Sources and check dates
All sources were fetched and checked on October 27, 2026.
- 20 CFR 404.409, What is full retirement age? (both tables), SSA’s copy of the regulations: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0409.htm
- 20 CFR 404.2(c)(4), attainment of age: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0002.htm
- 20 CFR 404.410, reductions before full retirement age: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0410.htm
- 20 CFR 404.313, delayed retirement credits and voluntary suspension: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0313.htm
- 20 CFR 404.333, wife’s and husband’s benefit amounts: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0333.htm
- 20 CFR 404.338, widow’s and widower’s benefit amounts: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0338.htm
- Social Security Act section 202(w), delayed retirement credits: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0202.htm
- Social Security Act section 216(l), retirement age and early retirement age: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0216.htm
- Social Security Handbook sections 723 and 724, reduction of benefits: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.07/handbook-0723.html and https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.07/handbook-0724.html
- SSA Office of the Chief Actuary, Normal Retirement Age (table, notes and the “When will you reach your NRA?” calculator): https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/nra.html
- SSA Office of the Chief Actuary, Effect of Early or Delayed Retirement on Retirement Benefits: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/ProgData/ar_drc.html
- SSA Office of the Chief Actuary, Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/earlyretire.html
- SSA, Retirement Age Calculator and “Why Did the Full Retirement Age Change?”: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/ageincrease.html
- SSA Historian’s Office, summary of P.L. 98-21, Social Security Amendments of 1983: https://www.ssa.gov/history/1983amend.html
- Public Law 98-21, 97 Stat. 65 (April 20, 1983), section 201, increase in retirement age: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-97/pdf/STATUTE-97-Pg65.pdf
- SSA Program Operations Manual System, RS 00615.020 (spouse with own benefit, Method C) and RS 00615.320 (widow(er)’s limit): https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615020 and https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615320
- SSA, Starting Your Retirement Benefits Early: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/agereduction.html
- SSA, Delayed Retirement Credits: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/delayret.html
- SSA, What you could get from Family benefits: https://www.ssa.gov/family/amount
- SSA, What you could get from Survivor benefits: https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/amount
- SSA, Receiving Benefits While Working: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html
- SSA Office of the Chief Actuary, Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/rtea.html
- SSA, 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustment Fact Sheet: https://www.ssa.gov/news/en/cola/factsheets/2027.html
- SSA, Retirement Benefits, Publication No. 05-10035, January 2026: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10035.pdf
- SSA, How Work Affects Your Benefits, Publication No. 05-10069, April 2026: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10069.pdf
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