Full Retirement Age by Birth Year: The Chart, and What Each Year Early Costs
If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. If you were born between 1955 and 1959, it is 66 and some months. That is the age at which Social Security pays your full benefit.
You can claim as early as 62 and as late as 70. Every month in between changes the amount, and the change lasts for the rest of your life.
Here is the chart by birth year, what each claiming age pays, and one decision worked through in the free Net Worth Tracker.
A claiming age is a number in a plan, not a date on a calendar. Example data.
The short version
Full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
Claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full amount, for life, when your full age is 67.
Waiting adds 8% a year after full retirement age, up to 70.
When you stop working and when you claim are two separate decisions.
The chart
Year you were born | Full retirement age | At 62 you receive |
|---|---|---|
1943 to 1954 | 66 | 75.0% of the full amount |
1955 | 66 and 2 months | 74.2% |
1956 | 66 and 4 months | 73.3% |
1957 | 66 and 6 months | 72.5% |
1958 | 66 and 8 months | 71.7% |
1959 | 66 and 10 months | 70.8% |
1960 or later | 67 | 70.0% |
One detail from Social Security: if you were born on January 1, use the year before. Anyone turning 62 in 2026 was born in 1964, so the bottom row applies.
How the reduction works
For each month you claim before full retirement age, the benefit is reduced by five-ninths of 1%, for up to 36 months. For each month earlier than that, the reduction is five-twelfths of 1%.
For each month you wait past full retirement age, the benefit grows by two-thirds of 1%. That is 8% a year, and it stops at 70.
Every claiming age, on one benefit
Take someone born in 1964 whose statement shows $1,900 a month at 67.
Claim at | Share of the full amount | Monthly benefit | A year |
|---|---|---|---|
62 | 70.0% | $1,330 | $15,960 |
63 | 75.0% | $1,425 | $17,100 |
64 | 80.0% | $1,520 | $18,240 |
65 | 86.7% | $1,647 | $19,764 |
66 | 93.3% | $1,773 | $21,276 |
67 | 100% | $1,900 | $22,800 |
68 | 108% | $2,052 | $24,624 |
69 | 116% | $2,204 | $26,448 |
70 | 124% | $2,356 | $28,272 |
From the top row to the bottom is $12,312 a year. The steps are not even. The last three years before 67 cost more per year than the first two, and each year after 67 adds a flat 8%.
Stopping work and claiming are different decisions
Most people treat them as one date. They do not have to be. You can stop working at 64 and claim at 67, living on savings in between. You can keep working past 67 and claim at 70.
For a business owner there is a third option that employees rarely have: working less. A lighter schedule from 62 to 67 can cover your costs and leave both your savings and your benefit untouched. Bear in mind that if you claim before full retirement age and keep earning, benefits are held back above a yearly limit, which is $24,480 in 2026.
A lighter working year still shows up as income. Example data.
Modeled in La Soglia: claim at 64, or bridge to 67?
An owner plans to stop at 64 and spends $48,000 a year. She can claim straight away at $1,520 a month, or live on savings for three years and claim $1,900 at 67.
Claim at 64 | Bridge to 67 | |
|---|---|---|
Benefit for those three years | $54,720 | $0 |
Taken from savings over three years | $89,280 | $144,000 |
Extra savings used | $54,720 | |
Monthly benefit from 67 onward | $1,520 | $1,900 |
Extra benefit each year from 67 | $4,560 |
Bridging costs her $54,720 more of her savings up front, and pays $4,560 more every year after. Divide one by the other and the break-even is 12 years, at age 79.
If she lives past 79, waiting comes out ahead, and further ahead every year. If her health or her savings make that unlikely or impossible, claiming earlier is a reasonable choice. Entering both versions in the tracker shows what each does to the savings line, which is the part of the decision people usually cannot picture.
Four things that should shape the choice
Your health and your family's history. The break-even only matters if you expect to reach it.
A spouse. The higher earner's claiming age can affect what a surviving spouse receives.
What else you have. Savings you can live on make waiting possible.
Whether you will still be earning. Work before full retirement age can hold benefits back.
Find your own figures
Your statement in your my Social Security account at ssa.gov shows your own estimate at 62, at full retirement age and at 70. For how those figures are built when you pay yourself, see our post on Social Security when you are self-employed.
See both versions, free
La Soglia, the free membership of the Money Mastery System, includes the Net Worth Tracker: your savings, your home, your business and your debts in one place, with no bank connection and no card. It is where the savings line in the table above lives.
Bring it to the Collective
When to claim is one of the biggest money decisions most people make. The Money Mastery Collective has a discussion feed open on the free membership. Talk it through there.
Questions we hear
What is the full retirement age for Social Security?
67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. For those born from 1955 to 1959 it is between 66 and 2 months and 66 and 10 months.
How much do I lose by claiming at 62?
If your full retirement age is 67, claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full amount, a 30% reduction that lasts for life.
How much more do I get by waiting until 70?
8% for each year past full retirement age. With a full age of 67, claiming at 70 pays 124% of the full amount.
Can I stop working before I claim Social Security?
Yes. Stopping work and claiming are separate decisions. Some people live on savings for a few years to claim a larger benefit later.
References
Full retirement age by birth year, the reduction for claiming early and delayed retirement credits are from the Social Security Administration's retirement age and benefit reduction pages. The 2026 earnings limit is from SSA's 2026 cost-of-living adjustment fact sheet. The benefit tables and the break-even are our own worked examples, before cost-of-living increases and tax.
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A note on what this is
This article is educational. The Money Mastery System is an educational tool, not financial software, and nothing here is legal, tax, investment or financial advice. When to claim Social Security depends on your health, work, marriage and savings, and your own statement is the only reliable estimate of your benefit. For guidance on your own circumstances, please speak with a qualified professional who knows them.
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