If you were born in 1960, your full Social Security retirement age is 67. You can start collecting as early as 62, but your check will be permanently reduced to 70% of your full benefit. Wait past 67 and the benefit grows by 8% for each year you delay, topping out at 124% at age 70. The Social Security retirement age chart below shows exactly what a 1960 birth year gets at every claiming age.
Benefit Percentage at Each Claiming Age
The percentages below apply to anyone born in 1960 (or later). A benefit of 100% is the full monthly payment Social Security calculated from your earnings record. Anything below is a permanent cut; anything above is a permanent bump.1Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later
- Age 62: 70.0%
- Age 63: 75.0%
- Age 64: 80.0%
- Age 65: 86.7%
- Age 66: 93.3%
- Age 67 (full retirement age): 100%
- Age 68: 108%
- Age 69: 116%
- Age 70: 124%
To translate the percentages into dollars: the maximum benefit at full retirement age in 2026 is $4,152 per month, and the maximum at 70 is $5,181.2Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Most people don’t hit those ceilings, which require 35 years of high earnings, but the ratios apply at any benefit level. If your full benefit at 67 works out to $2,000, claiming at 62 gives you $1,400 for life. Waiting until 70 gives you $2,480.
Why Full Retirement Age Is 67 for 1960 Births
The 1960 birth year sits at the end of a phase-in Congress passed in 1983. Federal law defines retirement age as 67 for anyone who reaches age 62 after December 31, 2021, which covers everyone born in 1960 or later.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 416 – Additional Definitions Birth years from 1955 through 1959 use full retirement ages that step up by two months per year (66 and 2 months, 66 and 4 months, and so on). Anyone born in 1960 or any later year uses the same 67.4Social Security Administration. Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
How the Early Claiming Reduction Works
Filing before 67 cuts your monthly check for life. The reduction runs on a two-tier formula. For the first 36 months before full retirement age, your benefit drops by five-ninths of one percent per month, or about 6.67% per year. For months beyond that, the reduction is five-twelfths of one percent per month, about 5% per year.4Social Security Administration. Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
Filing at 62 is 60 months early: 36 months at the steeper rate plus 24 months at the lower rate. Combined, that’s a 30% haircut.
The word “permanent” is doing real work here. Your check doesn’t reset to 100% when you eventually reach 67. It stays at whatever percentage it locked in on the day you filed. Cost-of-living adjustments will raise the dollar amount over time, but those raises apply to the reduced base.
Whether that trade makes sense depends on your health, your other income, and how long you expect to live. As a rough benchmark, cumulative payments from claiming at 62 versus waiting until 67 tend to cross over somewhere in the late 70s to early 80s. Live past that point and waiting would have paid more overall.
Delayed Retirement Credits After 67
For every month you hold off past 67, your benefit grows by two-thirds of one percent, which comes out to 8% per year.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments Credits stop accumulating at 70. There is no financial reason to delay past your 70th birthday; the benefit is capped at 124%.6Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits
One wrinkle worth knowing: if you wait past full retirement age and then file, you can request up to six months of retroactive benefits paid as a lump sum. Your ongoing monthly amount will then be calculated as if you had filed six months earlier, so future delayed credits are slightly lower. Retroactive benefits are not available for any month before you reached full retirement age.6Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits
Spousal Benefits at Each Age
If your spouse’s earnings record produces a higher benefit than yours, you may collect a spousal benefit instead. At full retirement age, the maximum spousal benefit is 50% of the worker’s full benefit. Claiming earlier reduces it on a steeper formula than your own retirement benefit: the first 36 months of early claiming reduce the spousal benefit by 25/36 of one percent per month, with each additional month reducing it by 5/12 of one percent.7Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
For a spouse born in 1960, the percentage of the worker’s full benefit at each claiming age looks like this:1Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later
- Age 62: 32.5%
- Age 63: 35.0%
- Age 64: 37.5%
- Age 65: 41.7%
- Age 66: 45.8%
- Age 67: 50.0%
Spousal benefits don’t earn delayed retirement credits, so waiting past 67 doesn’t raise them. Survivor benefits follow a different set of rules and start as early as 60 (or 50 with a qualifying disability), with their own full retirement age schedule.8Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
Working While Collecting Before 67
If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, the earnings test can temporarily withhold part of your benefit. In 2026, if you’re under 67 for the entire year, Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above $24,480. In the year you turn 67, the threshold jumps to $65,160 and the withholding drops to $1 for every $3 earned above that limit, counting only earnings through the month before your birthday.9Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
The withheld money isn’t gone. Once you reach 67, Social Security recalculates your benefit to credit back the months where payments were withheld, so your ongoing check goes up. After full retirement age, the earnings limit disappears entirely. You can earn any amount without any effect on your benefit.9Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
Medicare Still Starts at 65
Full retirement age moving to 67 did not change Medicare. Eligibility still begins at 65, and treating the two programs as one schedule is an expensive mistake.10Medicare. Get Started With Medicare Your initial Medicare enrollment period runs seven months: the three months before you turn 65, your birth month, and the three months after.11Medicare. When Does Medicare Coverage Start
Miss that window without qualifying employer coverage and you face a Part B late enrollment penalty: your monthly premium rises 10% for every full 12-month period you could have been enrolled but weren’t, for as long as you have Part B.12Medicare. Avoid Late Enrollment Penalties With the standard Part B premium at $202.90 per month in 2026, a two-year delay would add roughly $40 to that premium permanently. If you plan to hold off on Social Security until 67 or 70, sign up for Medicare at 65 anyway unless you’re covered by a current employer’s group health plan.
How to Apply
You can submit your Social Security application up to four months before the month you want benefits to start. Your first payment arrives the month after the start month you choose.13Social Security Administration. Timing Your First Payment Applications go through ssa.gov, by phone, or at a local Social Security office, and processing usually takes a few weeks.