For people ready to enjoy retirement but counting on Social Security to help balance the budget, there’s an important age cutoff you need to know.
Social Security benefits can be claimed starting at age 62. Doing so, however, will reduce your monthly benefits by as much as 30%, as compared to waiting until what the SSA calls “Full Retirement Age” – the specific age in which you qualify for your full benefits.
From Social Security’s inception in 1935 until the passage of the Social Security Amendments of 1983, FRA was 65. The act established a gradual increase to the FRA, and, starting in 2021, the FRA has grown by two months a year.
“Full retirement age, also called “normal retirement age,” was 65 for many years. In 1983, Congress passed a law to gradually raise the age because people are living longer and are generally healthier in older age,” Social Security explained on its website. “The law raised the full retirement age beginning with people born in 1938 or later. The retirement age gradually increases by a few months for every birth year, until it reaches 67 for people born in 1960 and later.”
What is the current Full Retirement Age?
Currently, FRA is:
- People born 1943-1954 – Age 66
- People born in 1955 – 66 years and 2 months
- People born in 1956 – 66 years and 4 months
- People born in 1957 – 66 years and 6 months
- People born in 1958 – 66 years and 8 months
- People born in 1959 – 66 years and 10 months
- 1960 and later – 67 years
The 67 age cutoff is the final increase for the FRA. Unless Congress steps in to change the age, it will not continue to increase in the coming years.
Retiring before FRA can be costly, permanently reducing monthly benefits by as much as 30%. Conversely, waiting after FRA can earn you roughly 8% more for each year beyond the official age, capping out at age 70.
Social Security provides an easy calculator if you need to determine your FRA. You can use that here.
