Goodbye to retirement at 66 if you were born after this year: can I still claim Social Security benefits at 62?
We take a look at how Americans’ year of birth affects their ‘full retirement age’, and how your monthly benefits go up the longer you wait to claim them.
Senior citizens in the United States can claim Social Security retirement benefits from the point they turn 62 years old - but they need to wait longer than that if they want to maximize their monthly entitlement.
That’s because the U.S.’s Social Security Administration (SSA) doesn’t deem you to have reached what it calls ‘full retirement age’ (FRA) until you are 66 or 67, depending on which year you were born.
Who are the last Social Security beneficiaries to have a full retirement age of 66?
Under legislation approved by Congress in the 1980s, the SSA has in recent years been steadily increasing Americans’ full retirement age.
People born in 1954 or earlier hit their FRA on their 66th birthday, but for each subsequent birth year until 1960, the agency has raised full retirement eligibility in increments of two months, topping out at 67.
Americans born in 1959 are therefore the final U.S. retirees who can reach full retirement before their 67th birthday.
With an FRA of 66 years and 10 months, this group of claimants will trigger their full eligibility for Social Security retirement benefits in November 2025 at the earliest.
Seniors born after 1959 will not reach FRA until January 2027 at the soonest. (With one exception: If you were born on January 1, 1960, the SSA actually counts you as a 1959 baby).
SSA’s ‘full retirement age’ progression - at a glance:
- 1943-54: 66
- 1955: 66 years and two months
- 1956: 66 years and four months
- 1957: 66 years and six months
- 1958: 66 years and eight months
- 1959: 66 years and ten months
- 1960 or after: 67
How much does claiming at 62 reduce your retirement benefits?
The amount Americans can claim in Social Security retirement benefits largely depends on two factors: how much the individual earned during their working life, and the age at which they first apply for their benefits.
If you begin claiming retirement benefits at the earliest possible point, the maximum monthly check you will receive in 2025 is $2,831, the SSA says.
Retirees who start claiming retirement as soon as they turn 62 this year - i.e., claimants born in 1963, who have an FRA of 67 - would get exactly 30% more per month were they to wait until they’re eligible for full-retirement-age status.
It’s also worth noting that if you continue to work after your FRA, you can claim retirement benefits and carry on earning as much as you like from your job. But before your FRA, your benefits may be reduced if you continue to work and, in the process, earn too much.
The SSA’s website provides an online tool for calculating your annual earnings limit in such a scenario.
What’s the maximum Social Security retirement benefit?
According to the SSA, the highest possible monthly retirement benefit in 2025 is $5,108 per month.
However, to have any chance of claiming that top amount, you need to wait until well beyond your FRA. It’s only available to Americans who first apply for their retirement benefits at 70 or older.
The average retirement benefit is currently $2,005.05 per month, per figures released by the SSA earlier in July.
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