Social Security Full Retirement Age: What It Means and How to Use It
Your Social Security full retirement age (FRA) is the age at which you can claim your full monthly benefit — called your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). It is set entirely by your birth year, and it is the reference point for every claiming decision: claim earlier and your benefit is permanently reduced; wait longer and it grows. Here is exactly how it works in 2026 terms.
What is full retirement age?
FRA is not the age you must retire — it is the age at which your benefit is neither reduced nor increased. For most people working today it is 66 or 67:
| Birth year | Full retirement age |
|---|---|
| 1937 or earlier | 65 |
| 1938–1942 | 65 and 2–10 months |
| 1943–1954 | 66 |
| 1955–1959 | 66 and 2–10 months |
| 1960 or later | 67 |
Use the full retirement age calculator to get your exact month — it also shows the month you reach FRA.
Claiming early costs you — permanently
You can claim as early as 62, but every month before FRA shaves a fraction off your benefit for life:
- First 36 months early: 5/9 of 1% per month (about 6.7% per year)
- Each additional month early: 5/12 of 1%
A worker born 1960 or later who claims at 62 faces a 30% permanent reduction. Claiming at 67 instead of 62 is not just three more years of work — it is a 30% larger check for every year of retirement.
Waiting grows your check — up to age 70
Every month past FRA earns a delayed retirement credit of 8% per year (two-thirds of 1% per month), up to age 70. For a 1960-born worker that is a maximum 24% increase by waiting from 67 to 70.
A concrete example
Say your PIA — your benefit at FRA — is $2,000 a month:
| Claiming age | Monthly benefit | Vs. FRA |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | $1,400 | −30% |
| 67 (FRA) | $2,000 | — |
| 70 | $2,480 | +24% |
The trade-off is a lifetime one, and whether waiting wins depends on how long you live. The break-even calculator finds the age where the two paths cross.
Working while collecting
Before FRA, the retirement earnings test withholds $1 of benefits for every $3 you earn above the 2026 annual limit ($23,400). After FRA there is no limit and no withholding — and if those post-FRA earnings replace lower-earning years, SSA recalculates your benefit upward.
Spousal and survivor benefits follow the same PIA math
A spouse can claim up to 50% of the worker’s PIA at FRA, and survivors can claim up to 100% of the deceased worker’s benefit as early as 60. Because these benefits are based on the PIA, the claiming-age adjustments above apply to them too. See the spousal benefit calculator and the benefit estimator for your own numbers.
Run the numbers
Start with the full retirement age calculator to pin down your FRA, then compare claiming ages with the break-even calculator, estimate your monthly benefit with the benefit calculator, and check how much of it is taxable with the Social Security tax calculator.