If you were born in 1960, your full retirement age for Social Security is 67. That is the age at which Social Security pays 100% of your calculated benefit with no early-claiming reduction and no delayed-retirement bonus.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 416 – Additional Definitions You can start as early as 62 or wait as late as 70, and each month you shift the claim date changes your check for life.
One boundary to clear up before anything else: Medicare still starts at 65. The two-year gap between Medicare eligibility and your Social Security full retirement age is where a lot of people born in 1960 get tripped up, and missing the Medicare window has its own permanent cost. More on that below.
What the Benefit at 67 Actually Is
The benefit paid at full retirement age is your Primary Insurance Amount, or PIA. Social Security calculates it from your highest 35 years of earnings, adjusted for inflation, run through a formula.2Social Security Administration. Benefit Calculation Examples for Workers Retiring in 2026 If you worked fewer than 35 years, zeros fill the empty slots and pull the average down, so a few additional working years late in your career can replace those zeros and raise your check.
For scale, the maximum monthly benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age in 2026 is $4,152.3Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet Most workers receive well below that, since the maximum assumes decades of earnings at or above the Social Security wage cap.
Claiming Before 67
You can begin collecting at 62, but the reduction is steep and it is permanent. Someone born in 1960 who claims at 62 has a 60-month gap to full retirement age, and that produces a 30% cut from PIA.4Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner – Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later A $2,000 benefit at 67 becomes about $1,400 at 62. Future cost-of-living adjustments build on that reduced base, so the gap widens over time rather than closing.
The formula uses two rates. For the first 36 months before full retirement age, the benefit drops by 5/9 of 1% per month. For any additional months beyond that, the rate is 5/12 of 1% per month.5Social Security Administration. Early or Late Retirement For a 1960 birth year, the first 36 months take off 20% and the next 24 months take off another 10%, adding to 30%.6Social Security Administration. Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
Anything between 62 and 67 lands somewhere on that scale. Claim at 64 and you lose roughly 20%. Claim at 65 and it is about 13.3%. The closer to 67, the smaller the cut.
Waiting Past 67
Every month you delay past 67 adds 2/3 of 1% to your benefit, which comes to 8% per year.7Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits Wait until 70 and your monthly check is 24% higher than it would have been at 67. There is no complicated tiered formula here, just a straight 8% annual increase.
The credits stop at age 70. Waiting beyond that adds nothing.8Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.313 – What Are Delayed Retirement Credits and How Do They Increase My Old-Age Benefit Amount
Whether waiting pays in total dollars depends on how long you live. The break-even between claiming at 62 and claiming at 67 falls around age 78 or 79. Between claiming at 67 and waiting until 70, the break-even lands closer to 80. Live past those ages and the higher check produces more lifetime income; die before them and claiming earlier would have paid more. Health and family longevity matter to that call, and so does whether a spouse will one day inherit your benefit as a survivor.
Don’t Miss Medicare at 65
Medicare eligibility begins at 65 regardless of when you claim Social Security.9Medicare.gov. When Can I Sign Up for Medicare Your initial enrollment period runs seven months: the three months before your 65th birthday month, that month itself, and the three months after. Miss it without qualifying employer coverage and you face a late-enrollment penalty that raises your Part B premium for life, plus a wait until the next general enrollment period between January and March.
If you are still working at 65 with employer health coverage, you may be able to delay Medicare without penalty. The mistake to avoid is assuming Medicare waits for full retirement age. It does not. And because Social Security handles Medicare sign-up, you have to enroll proactively if you are not already collecting Social Security at 65.10Social Security Administration. When to Sign Up for Medicare
If You Keep Working Before 67
Claiming Social Security before full retirement age while still earning wages triggers the retirement earnings test. In 2026, Social Security withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above $24,480.11Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
A more lenient rule applies during the calendar year you turn 67. In that year, the withholding is $1 for every $3 above $65,160, and only earnings in the months before your birthday month count. Once you reach 67, the earnings test is gone and you can earn any amount without effect on your benefit.
Withheld money is not lost. When you hit 67, Social Security recalculates your monthly benefit to credit the months that were reduced, and your future checks rise to reflect them.12Social Security Administration. Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test The short-term hit still catches people who assumed they could work full time and collect the full check.
What Your Claim Age Does to a Spouse
A spouse with a limited earnings record can receive up to 50% of your PIA as a spousal benefit if they claim at their own full retirement age.13Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses Claiming earlier reduces that amount. Delayed retirement credits do not raise spousal benefits, so there is no reason for a spouse to wait past their own full retirement age for this benefit alone.
Survivor benefits are where the claim date really carries. A surviving spouse who has reached full retirement age receives 100% of what the deceased worker was collecting, including any delayed retirement credits the worker earned.14Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits If the higher earner in a couple claims at 62 and locks in a 30% cut, that reduced figure becomes the ceiling for the survivor benefit too. Waiting until 70, by contrast, sets a higher floor for the spouse who outlives you. For couples where one earner’s record dominates, that consideration often weighs heavier than the individual break-even math.