Your Social Security full retirement age by birth year falls somewhere between 66 and 67. If you were born in 1960 or later, it’s 67. If you were born from 1943 through 1954, it’s 66. Everyone in between lands on a two-month staircase that Congress built to phase the change in gradually. FRA is the age when you qualify for 100% of your retirement benefit, with no reduction for claiming early and no bonus for waiting.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 416 – Additional Definitions
Full Retirement Age by Birth Year
- Born 1943–1954: FRA is 66.
- Born 1955: 66 and 2 months.
- Born 1956: 66 and 4 months.
- Born 1957: 66 and 6 months.
- Born 1958: 66 and 8 months.
- Born 1959: 66 and 10 months.
- Born 1960 or later: 67.
Federal law doesn’t set FRA by birth year directly. It anchors FRA to the calendar year you turn 62, which the statute calls your “early retirement age.” The schedule above is the practical result.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 416 – Additional Definitions
What Claiming Before FRA Costs You
You can start collecting as early as 62, but every month you claim before FRA shrinks your check permanently. Social Security uses two reduction rates: 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before FRA, and 5/12 of 1% for every additional month beyond that.2Social Security Administration. Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement
Work that out for someone with an FRA of 67 who files at 62. That’s 60 months early. The first 36 months cost 20%, and the next 24 months cost another 10%, for a total 30% permanent reduction.3Social Security Administration. Social Security Benefit Amounts A $2,000 benefit at FRA becomes $1,400 at 62 and stays $1,400 for life, apart from annual cost-of-living adjustments.
The reduction scales with how early you file. Claiming at 66 with an FRA of 67 costs only about 6.7%. The closer to FRA, the smaller the hit.
What Waiting Past FRA Earns You
Delaying past FRA earns delayed retirement credits of 2/3 of 1% per month, or 8% per year.4Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits Credits stop at age 70, so waiting beyond that adds nothing.
For someone with an FRA of 67, waiting until 70 adds 24%. A $2,000 check becomes $2,480, locked in for life.5Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.313 – What Are Delayed Retirement Credits and How Do They Increase My Old-Age Benefit Amount The tradeoff is collecting nothing for up to three extra years in exchange for a larger check afterward. Most people who live past their early-to-mid 80s come out ahead by waiting.
The Earnings Test Before FRA
If you claim before FRA and keep working, Social Security may temporarily withhold some of your benefits. It looks like a penalty but isn’t. The withheld money returns as a higher monthly payment once you hit FRA.6Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
Two thresholds apply in 2026:
- Under FRA for the whole year: $1 withheld for every $2 you earn above $24,480.6Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
- The year you reach FRA: $1 withheld for every $3 you earn above $65,160, counting only earnings in the months before the month you reach FRA.7Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
Starting the month you reach FRA, the earnings test disappears. You can earn any amount without affecting your benefits, and Social Security recalculates your payment to credit the months benefits were withheld.6Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working Only wages and self-employment income count. Investment income, pensions, and annuities don’t.
How FRA Affects Spousal Benefits
If your spouse has a higher earnings record, you may qualify for a spousal benefit worth up to 50% of their primary insurance amount. To get the full 50%, you need to wait until your own FRA to claim.8Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses Claiming a spousal benefit early reduces it more steeply than claiming your own retirement benefit early. A spouse with an FRA of 67 who files at 62 sees a 35% reduction.2Social Security Administration. Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement
One rule surprises many couples. If you turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016, filing for either your own retirement benefit or a spousal benefit automatically files you for both. You cannot collect only the spousal benefit while letting your own grow with delayed credits. Social Security pays whichever amount is higher.9Social Security Administration. Filing Rules for Retirement and Spouses Benefits
Deemed filing does not apply to survivor benefits. A widow or widower can still start a survivor benefit and switch to their own retirement benefit later, or the other way around.9Social Security Administration. Filing Rules for Retirement and Spouses Benefits
Survivor Benefits Use a Different Schedule
Survivors have their own FRA schedule, and the birth-year cutoffs do not match the retirement schedule. The statute defines early retirement age as 60 for survivors rather than 62 for retirees, which shifts the whole calculation.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 416 – Additional Definitions
- Born 1945–1956: Survivor FRA is 66.
- Born 1957–1961: Survivor FRA increases gradually, by two months per birth year.
- Born 1962 or later: Survivor FRA is 67.
A surviving spouse who waits until their survivor FRA receives 100% of the deceased worker’s benefit amount.10Social Security Administration. What You Could Get from Survivor Benefits Claiming earlier, as young as 60, reduces it. Someone born in 1956 has a survivor FRA of 66 but a retirement FRA of 66 and 4 months.11Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
Medicare Still Starts at 65
Medicare eligibility begins at 65 no matter what your Social Security FRA is.12Social Security Administration. If You Want Medicare But Not Monthly Cash Benefits at This Time If your FRA is 67 and you assume Medicare tracks it, you’ll miss your initial enrollment window and face permanent late enrollment penalties.
Your initial enrollment period runs from three months before the month you turn 65 through three months after. Miss it and the Part B late enrollment penalty is 10% for each full 12-month period you could have enrolled and didn’t. That penalty stays on your monthly premium for as long as you have Part B. In 2026, the standard Part B premium is $202.90. Two full years of delay without qualifying coverage adds $40.58 per month, permanently.13Medicare. Avoid Late Enrollment Penalties
The main exception: if you’re still working at 65 and covered by an employer health plan from an employer with 20 or more employees, you qualify for a special enrollment period and won’t owe penalties when you sign up later. If you’re retired, self-employed, or working for a small employer without qualifying coverage, enroll at 65 even if you plan to delay Social Security until FRA or 70.