What Is Your Full Retirement Age for Social Security?
Full retirement age is the age at which you get 100% of your Social Security retirement benefit, the amount Social Security calls your primary insurance amount. It’s 67 if you were born in 1960 or later and 66 if you were born from 1943 through 1954, with two-month steps for the years in between. Start before it and your benefit is permanently reduced; start after it and the benefit grows until 70.
Your full retirement age is not the age you have to stop working, and it’s not the Medicare age, which stays at 65. The last people with a full retirement age below 67 reach it in October 2026. From January 2027 on, everyone reaching full retirement age for their own benefit does so at 67.
Full retirement age chart by birth year
| Year of birth | Full retirement age | Benefit at 62, as share of full | Spouse’s benefit at 62, as share of worker’s full benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 66 | 75% | 35% |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 74.2% | 34.6% |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 73.3% | 34.2% |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 72.5% | 33.8% |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 71.7% | 33.3% |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 70.8% | 32.9% |
| 1960 and later | 67 | 70% | 32.5% |
Swipe sideways to see the full table →
The official chart uses the same rule for everyone: if you were born on January 1, use the previous year. People born before 1938 had a full retirement age of 65, and for those born from 1938 through 1942 it rose from 65 and 2 months to 65 and 10 months.
How to find your exact full retirement age month
Social Security counts you as reaching an age on the day before your birthday. That small rule decides your full retirement age month:
- Born on the 2nd through the 31st: you reach full retirement age in your birthday month. Someone born June 15, 1960 reaches 67 in June 2027.
- Born on the 1st: you reach it the month before. Someone born February 1, 1960 is treated as reaching 67 on January 31, 2027, so January 2027 is their full retirement age month.
- Born on January 1: you’re treated as born in the previous year. A person born January 1, 1960 counts as born in 1959, has a full retirement age of 66 and 10 months, and reaches it in October 2026, not January 2027.
Because of that last rule, nobody reaches full retirement age for their own benefit in November or December 2026.
If you want your first unreduced benefit, pick your full retirement age month as the month benefits start. The payment for that month arrives the following month. You can apply up to 4 months before your start month, so someone with a January 2027 full retirement age can apply as early as September 2026.
What full retirement age does to your benefit
Before full retirement age, your benefit is reduced 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months early and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond that. With a full retirement age of 67, starting at 62 pays 70%, at 64 pays 80%, and at 66 pays about 93.3%. The reduction lasts for life; the check doesn’t rise to the full amount when you reach 67.
After full retirement age, delayed retirement credits add 2/3 of 1% for each month you wait, or 8% a year, until 70. With a full retirement age of 67, waiting to 70 pays 124%; with 66, it pays 132%. Waiting past 70 adds nothing, so there’s no reason to delay beyond it.
What changes when you reach full retirement age
The earnings limit ends
Before full retirement age, wages above a yearly limit cause Social Security to withhold benefits. In the calendar year you reach full retirement age, the limit is higher and the penalty lighter:
| Year | Limit in the year you reach full retirement age | Withholding |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $65,160 | $1 for every $3 above the limit |
| 2027 | $67,920 | $1 for every $3 above the limit |
Swipe sideways to see the full table →
Only earnings in the months before your full retirement age month count. Someone who reaches 67 in July 2027 and earns $80,000 from January through June is $12,080 over, so about $4,027 is withheld. From the month you reach full retirement age, you can earn any amount without losing benefits.
Benefits withheld before full retirement age aren’t lost. When you reach it, Social Security recalculates your benefit to credit the months it held back, which raises your monthly amount from then on.
Spousal benefits reach their full 50%
A spouse can get up to half of the worker’s full retirement age amount, but only by starting at the spouse’s own full retirement age. Starting earlier reduces it, down to 32.5% at 62 for spouses born in 1960 or later, unless the spouse is caring for the worker’s child under 16 or a disabled child. The worker’s claiming age doesn’t change the spousal amount; it’s always based on the worker’s full retirement age benefit.
SSDI turns into retirement
If you get Social Security disability benefits, they automatically change to retirement benefits at full retirement age, without a new application.
You can suspend to earn credits
At full retirement age you can ask Social Security to suspend your benefits, even if you started early, and earn delayed retirement credits until 70. Before full retirement age, the only way to undo a claim is to withdraw it within 12 months and repay what you received.
Applying after full retirement age: the back-pay trap
If you apply after reaching full retirement age, you can ask for benefits to start up to 6 months before the month you apply, but never before your full retirement age. That gives you a lump sum, but each month you take back is a month of delayed credit you give up for life. Six months back costs 4% of your monthly benefit permanently.
The lump sum can make sense if you’re in poor health or need the cash. If you delayed to get a bigger check, choose your application month as the start month instead.
Full retirement age for survivor benefits is different
If you’re claiming as a widow or widower, a separate schedule applies, and it lags the retirement schedule by two years:
| Year of birth | Full retirement age for survivor benefits |
|---|---|
| 1945 to 1956 | 66 |
| 1957 | 66 and 2 months |
| 1958 | 66 and 4 months |
| 1959 | 66 and 6 months |
| 1960 | 66 and 8 months |
| 1961 | 66 and 10 months |
| 1962 and later | 67 |
Swipe sideways to see the full table →
Someone born in 1960 reaches full retirement age for survivor benefits at 66 and 8 months, four months before their full retirement age for their own benefit. A surviving spouse can start survivor benefits at 60 at 71.5% of the full amount, rising to 100% at this survivor full retirement age.
Medicare doesn’t follow full retirement age
Medicare starts at 65 for everyone, whatever your full retirement age. If you’re not getting Social Security yet, sign up for Medicare in the 3 months before you turn 65. Waiting longer can make Part B and drug coverage cost more. If you or your spouse still have group health coverage from current work, check with the employer before deciding on Part B. If you’re already getting Social Security at 65, you’re enrolled automatically.
Why full retirement age is 67, and whether it will rise
Full retirement age was 65 for decades. In 1983, Congress raised it gradually, starting with people born in 1938, because people were living longer. The increase finished at 67 for people born in 1960 and later. The earliest claiming age stayed at 62.
No law has changed full retirement age since then. Proposals to raise it again come up often in debates over Social Security’s finances, and Social Security’s actuaries have scored several: raising it to 68 or 69 over many years, or tying it to life expectancy. None has passed. Any change would need a new law, and the options scored so far would start with people turning 62 in 2027 or later and phase in over many years.
Myths about full retirement age
Watch out: “Full retirement age is 65.” It hasn’t been 65 for anyone born after 1937. Medicare is what starts at 65.
- “You must stop working at full retirement age.” Full retirement age has nothing to do with when you stop working. It only sets your benefit level, and from that month on your earnings don’t reduce it.
- “Your benefit grows 8% a year from 62.” The 8% applies only after full retirement age. Before it, each year adds 5 to 6.7 percentage points.
- “If you started early, your check goes up to the full amount at full retirement age.” It doesn’t, except for credit for months withheld because of work.
- “Everyone born in 1960 has a full retirement age of 67.” People born on January 1, 1960 are treated as born in 1959, so theirs is 66 and 10 months.