Full retirement age for Social Security benefits is the age at which you qualify for 100 percent of the retirement benefit you earned over your working life. For anyone born in 1960 or later, that age is 67. For people born earlier, it scales down in two-month steps to 65 for those born in 1937 or before. Filing before your full retirement age permanently reduces your monthly check; waiting past it can raise the payment by as much as 24 percent.
Find Your Full Retirement Age by Birth Year
The Social Security Administration uses a fixed schedule tied to the year you were born:
- 1937 or earlier: 65
- 1938: 65 and 2 months
- 1939: 65 and 4 months
- 1940: 65 and 6 months
- 1941: 65 and 8 months
- 1942: 65 and 10 months
- 1943 through 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 or later: 67
One quirk to note: if you were born on January 1 of any year, Social Security treats you as if you were born in the previous year.1Social Security Administration. Normal Retirement Age Someone born on January 1, 1960, uses the 1959 row, making full retirement age 66 and 10 months rather than 67.
What the “Full” Benefit Actually Is
The number tied to your full retirement age is your primary insurance amount, or PIA. Social Security calculates the PIA from your highest 35 years of earnings, adjusted for inflation, and every early-claim reduction or delayed-claim increase is measured against it.2Social Security Administration. Primary Insurance Amount
For workers first becoming eligible in 2026, the formula pays 90 percent of the first $1,286 in average indexed monthly earnings, 32 percent of earnings between $1,286 and $7,749, and 15 percent of earnings above $7,749.2Social Security Administration. Primary Insurance Amount The maximum monthly benefit for someone retiring at full retirement age in 2026 is $4,152.3Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Payable?
Claiming Before Full Retirement Age
You can start collecting as early as age 62, but the monthly amount shrinks for every month you claim early, and the reduction is permanent. For the first 36 months of early claiming, each month shaves off five-ninths of one percent. Beyond 36 months, each additional month costs five-twelfths of one percent.4Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.410 – How Does SSA Reduce My Benefits When My Entitlement Begins Before Full Retirement Age?
For someone born in 1960 or later with a full retirement age of 67, filing at 62 means filing 60 months early. Total reduction: about 30 percent. A $1,000 PIA becomes roughly $700 for life, aside from annual cost-of-living adjustments.5Social Security Administration. Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction The maximum benefit payable at 62 in 2026 is $2,969, compared with $4,152 at full retirement age.3Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Payable?
Spousal benefits fall even faster. A spouse who files at 62 with a full retirement age of 67 receives as little as 32.5 percent of the worker’s PIA, versus the 50 percent available at their own full retirement age.6Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
Claiming After Full Retirement Age
Waiting past your full retirement age earns delayed retirement credits of two-thirds of one percent per month, or 8 percent per year.7Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits Credits stop at age 70. Someone with a full retirement age of 67 who waits until 70 picks up a 24 percent increase over the PIA. The maximum monthly benefit at 70 in 2026 is $5,181.3Social Security Administration. What Is the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit Payable?
If you wait past full retirement age and eventually apply, you can request up to six months of retroactive payments. Social Security will not pay retroactively for any month before you reached full retirement age, so the retroactive window only covers months you were already past that mark.7Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits Accepting a lump sum also resets your ongoing monthly payment to reflect the earlier start date rather than the date you actually filed.
Working While Collecting Before Full Retirement Age
If you claim early and keep working, the Social Security earnings test can temporarily reduce your payments. It compares your annual earnings from work against an exempt amount that changes each year.
For 2026:
- Under full retirement age all year: Social Security withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above $24,480.
- Reaching full retirement age during 2026: Social Security withholds $1 for every $3 you earn above $65,160, counting only earnings from months before the month you reach full retirement age.
- At or past full retirement age: no earnings limit applies, and you keep your full benefit regardless of income.8Social Security Administration. Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test
Money withheld under the earnings test is not lost. Once you reach full retirement age, Social Security recalculates your benefit to credit you for the months payments were reduced or withheld, and the ongoing monthly amount goes up.9Social Security Administration. Your Options – Working, Applying for Retirement Benefits, or Both The earnings test functions more like a deferral than a permanent penalty.
Spousal and Survivor Benefits Tied to Full Retirement Age
Full retirement age also drives the size of payments to spouses and surviving spouses, though the rules differ from the worker’s own retirement benefit.
Spousal Benefits
A spouse can collect up to 50 percent of the worker’s PIA by waiting until their own full retirement age. Filing early reduces that under a slightly different formula: 25/36 of one percent for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age, and 5/12 of one percent for each additional month. Filing at 62 with a full retirement age of 67 trims the spousal benefit from 50 percent to about 32.5 percent of the worker’s PIA.6Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses Spousal benefits do not earn delayed retirement credits, so waiting past full retirement age adds nothing.
Survivor Benefits
Widows and widowers use a separate full retirement age schedule that runs two years behind the retirement schedule, reaching 67 for those born in 1962 or later.10Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.409 – What Is Full Retirement Age? Survivor benefits can start as early as age 60, or age 50 with a disability, though claiming early reduces them.11Social Security Administration. See Your Full Retirement Age for Survivor Benefits
There is also a widow’s limit provision that catches families off guard. If the deceased worker had already claimed a reduced benefit before their own full retirement age, the survivor’s payment is generally capped at what the worker was receiving. A worker who filed at 63 and took roughly a 13 percent cut locks the surviving spouse into a benefit no higher than that reduced amount.
Changing Your Mind After Filing
Two options exist for reversing or adjusting a claim, depending on how long ago you filed.
Withdrawing Your Application
If fewer than 12 months have passed since you first became entitled to benefits, you can withdraw the application entirely.12Social Security Administration. Can I Withdraw My Social Security Retirement Claim and Reapply Later? The catch: you must repay every dollar paid to you and to anyone else on your record, such as a spouse or child.13Social Security Administration. Request for Withdrawal of Application, Form SSA-521 Once approved, it is as though you never filed, and you can reapply later at a higher benefit. This option is available only once per lifetime.
Suspending Your Benefit
After you reach full retirement age, you can ask Social Security to pause your payments.14Social Security Administration. Pause Your Retirement Benefit During the pause you earn delayed retirement credits of up to 8 percent per year plus cost-of-living increases, and payments restart automatically at 70 if you do not request an earlier restart. While your benefit is suspended, no one collecting on your record receives payments either, and anyone enrolled in Medicare has to continue paying premiums out of pocket.
Medicare Still Starts at 65
Medicare eligibility does not move with your Social Security full retirement age. It still begins at 65 for everyone, even though full retirement age is now 66 or 67 for most people. Sign up during the seven-month window that starts three months before you turn 65, regardless of whether you plan to claim Social Security yet.15Medicare.gov. When Does Medicare Coverage Start?
If you are already receiving Social Security when you turn 65, enrollment in Medicare Parts A and B is generally automatic. If you are waiting past 65 to file for Social Security, you need to sign up for Medicare yourself. Missing the initial enrollment window can result in a late-enrollment penalty that permanently raises your Part B premiums.