What is my Full Retirement Age for Social Security?
Your Full Retirement Age (FRA) depends on the year you were born, and it runs from 66 for anyone born in 1954 or earlier up to 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later, with a gradual climb in between. FRA is the age Social Security pays your benefit at exactly 100 percent of what you have earned. Claim before FRA and your check is reduced for the rest of your life. Claim after FRA and it grows by 8 percent a year, capped at age 70. The chart below shows your exact FRA and what claiming at other ages does to the dollar amount.
Full retirement age by birth year
Find the row that matches your birth year to see your exact Full Retirement Age, along with how much a benefit shrinks if you claim at 62 and how much it grows if you wait until 70.
| Birth year | Full Retirement Age | Reduction if claimed at 62 | Benefit at 70 (percent of FRA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 or earlier | 66 | 25.0% | 132% |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 25.83% | 130.67% |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 26.67% | 129.33% |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 27.5% | 128% |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 28.33% | 126.67% |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 29.17% | 125.33% |
| 1960 or later | 67 | 30.0% | 124% |
These figures come from the Social Security Administration and apply to retirement benefits based on your own work record.
Your FRA is also the reference point for every other Social Security decision you will make, from how much a spouse or survivor can collect to how the earnings test applies while you are still working. Knowing your exact FRA before you file is usually more useful than any single "best age" rule of thumb, since the dollar impact of claiming a year early or a year late scales directly off that number.
What claiming before your FRA does to your check
You can start Social Security as early as 62, but the trade is a permanent cut. The formula reduces your benefit by 5/9 of one percent for each month early, up to 36 months, then by 5/12 of one percent for every additional month beyond that.
Here is what that looks like using a $2,400 FRA benefit as an example:
| Age you claim | Monthly benefit (FRA = 67, $2,400 at FRA) | Difference from FRA |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | $1,680 | -30.0% |
| 63 | $1,800 | -25.0% |
| 64 | $1,920 | -20.0% |
| 65 | $2,081 | -13.3% |
| 66 | $2,239 | -6.7% |
| 67 (FRA) | $2,400 | 0% |
| 68 | $2,592 | +8.0% |
| 69 | $2,784 | +16.0% |
| 70 (maximum) | $2,976 | +24.0% |
For anyone with an FRA of 67, the swing between claiming at 62 and waiting until 70 is close to 77 percent of monthly income, for the rest of your life. That gap is the single biggest lever most retirees have over their own Social Security check.
What delaying past FRA earns you
Every year you hold off claiming past your FRA, up to age 70, adds 8 percent to your benefit through delayed retirement credits. That 8 percent annual bump is one of the strongest guaranteed rates of return available anywhere, well above what a competitive MYGA typically pays, and it comes with none of the market exposure a stock portfolio carries. Once you turn 70, the delayed credits stop entirely, so there is no financial reason to wait any longer than that, and filing promptly at 70 avoids leaving guaranteed money on the table.
The math only works, though, if you can actually afford to wait. Someone who needs the income immediately to cover basic expenses should not delay purely to chase the larger check; running out of savings while waiting defeats the purpose. See our guide to the Social Security break-even age for how to weigh your own numbers before deciding.
Using an annuity to bridge the gap to age 70
Because delaying pays off so well, many retirees look for a way to cover living expenses in the meantime without touching Social Security. A common approach uses a fixed annuity to fund the gap years:
- Retire and hold off claiming. Cover expenses with savings, part-time income, or a MYGA's interest and withdrawals instead of an early Social Security claim.
- Let the benefit grow at 8 percent a year. Every year you wait between FRA and 70 compounds that increase.
- Claim the larger check at 70. From that point forward, you collect a permanently higher benefit for as long as you live.
Here's a hypothetical illustration. Renee retires at 63 with a projected FRA benefit of $2,000 a month at her FRA of 67. Claiming immediately at 63 would lock in about $1,500 a month for life. Instead, she puts a portion of her savings into a 7-year MYGA and uses the interest, plus modest withdrawals, to cover expenses for seven years. At 70, her Social Security check starts at $2,480 a month, or $980 more than she would have received by claiming at 63. If Renee lives to 90, the higher check puts her roughly $109,000 ahead in total lifetime benefits compared with claiming at 63, even after accounting for the years of Social Security income she gave up while she waited.
Working before FRA can temporarily reduce your check
If you claim Social Security before FRA and keep earning income, the annual earnings test can withhold part of your benefit for the year:
- Under FRA the entire year: SSA withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above the 2026 limit of $24,480.
- The year you reach FRA: SSA withholds $1 for every $3 you earn above the 2026 limit of $65,160, counting only earnings in the months before your birthday.
- Once you reach FRA: There is no earnings limit at all, and your full benefit is paid regardless of how much you work.
None of that money disappears for good. SSA recalculates your benefit once you reach FRA and raises it to account for every month that was withheld.
Spousal, divorced spouse and survivor benefits
Spousal benefits
A spouse who never worked, or who earned far less, can still collect up to 50 percent of the higher earner's FRA benefit. To qualify, you generally need to be at least 62 (or caring for a qualifying child), and your spouse must have already filed for their own benefit. Claiming a spousal benefit before your own FRA reduces the amount.
Divorced spouse benefits
If a marriage lasted at least 10 years and you have not remarried, you may qualify for a benefit based on your ex-spouse's earnings record, up to 50 percent of their FRA amount. Your ex-spouse does not need to have filed yet, and this claim never notifies them.
Survivor benefits
A surviving spouse can collect up to 100 percent of the deceased spouse's benefit, starting as early as 60 (or 50 if disabled). If the deceased spouse had delayed their own claim past FRA, the survivor inherits that larger, delayed amount, which is one reason delaying is especially valuable for married couples.
These three categories interact with each other, and with your own retirement benefit, in ways that are easy to get wrong on your own. A household with a significant age or earnings gap between spouses often has more room to optimize than either spouse realizes, since the strategy that maximizes one person's check is not always the strategy that maximizes the household's total lifetime income. Our Social Security spousal benefits guide walks through how to size that up for a two-income or single-income household.
2026 Social Security key numbers
| Item | 2026 amount |
|---|---|
| Maximum monthly benefit at FRA | $4,152 |
| Maximum monthly benefit at 70 | $5,181 |
| Average monthly benefit, retired worker | $2,071 |
| Cost-of-living adjustment for 2026 | 2.8% |
| Earnings test limit, under FRA | $24,480 |
| Earnings test limit, year you reach FRA | $65,160 |
| Maximum taxable earnings | $184,500 |
Figures according to the Social Security Administration's 2026 cost-of-living adjustment fact sheet.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is Full Retirement Age?
It is the specific age, set by the Social Security Administration, at which your retirement benefit is paid at its full, unreduced amount. Workers born in 1954 or earlier reach it at 66. The age then rises in two-month increments for people born from 1955 through 1959, topping out at 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
Can you collect Social Security at 62 while still working?
You can, though your paycheck can shrink the check temporarily. Before you reach FRA, the earnings test holds back one dollar of benefits for every two dollars earned over the 2026 threshold. That withholding is not permanent: once FRA arrives, Social Security recalculates the benefit upward to make up for the months it withheld.
Should you claim Social Security early or wait?
There is no single right answer; it hinges on your health, other sources of income and marital status. Someone who expects to live well past their late 70s typically comes out ahead by delaying to 70. Married couples often benefit from having the higher earner wait, since that decision sets the survivor benefit for whichever spouse outlives the other.
How do annuities fit alongside Social Security?
Retirees frequently use fixed annuities such as a MYGA or an immediate annuity to fund living expenses during the years before they claim, which lets them push their Social Security start date out to 70 and lock in a permanently larger check. The annuity essentially covers the bridge while the government benefit keeps compounding in the background.
Does Social Security keep growing after age 70?
It does not. The 8 percent annual delayed retirement credit maxes out at 70, so there is nothing further to gain by waiting past that birthday. From 70 onward, increases come only from the yearly cost-of-living adjustment.
What is the Full Retirement Age for someone born in 1960?
Anyone in that birth year, or later, reaches Full Retirement Age at 67. Filing at 62 locks in a permanent 30 percent cut, while pushing the claim out to 70 adds a permanent 24 percent on top of the FRA amount.
What about someone born in 1959?
For that birth year, Full Retirement Age lands at 66 and 10 months. An early filing at 62 trims the benefit by roughly 29.17 percent, and holding out until 70 adds about 25.33 percent above the FRA figure.
Is the benefit paid in full at age 65?
Not for anyone born in 1943 or later, since their FRA sits at 66 or higher. Filing at 65 still means a reduced check, landing somewhere around 87 to 93 percent of the FRA amount depending on the exact birth year.
Can someone with an FRA of 67 still file at 62?
Filing is always allowed starting at 62, no matter what your FRA is, but doing so with an FRA of 67 means a permanent 30 percent cut. A benefit worth $2,400 at FRA would pay only $1,680 a month for life under that scenario.
Written and reviewed by
James Forren Warren
Licensed Retirement Income Strategist · License #20551202
James Forren Warren is a licensed Retirement Income Strategist with Tax Free Wealth Plan. For the past five years he has helped individuals and families turn their savings into retirement income they can count on. He writes and reviews the annuity research on this site and keeps it plain: what a product does, what it costs you, and who it actually fits.
Sources
Educational only, not investment, tax or legal advice. Tax Free Wealth Plan LLC is a licensed insurance agency, not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer. Annuities are not bank deposits, are not FDIC insured and are not guaranteed by any government agency. Guarantees are backed solely by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Features, rates and availability vary by state and change over time; the contract and disclosure documents govern.