Your Social Security full retirement age by birth date, and the benefit at 62 and 70
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 7 Oct 2026.Full retirement age is 66 for people born from 1943 to 1954, rises two months a year for births from 1955 to 1959, and is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Born on 1 January, use the year before. Claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full benefit when the full retirement age is 67, and waiting to 70 pays 124%. Enter your date of birth to see your own month.
| Born | Full retirement age | At 62 | At 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 66 | 75% | 132% |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 74.2% | 130.7% |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 73.3% | 129.3% |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 72.5% | 128% |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 71.7% | 126.7% |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 70.8% | 125.3% |
| 1960 or later | 67 | 70% | 124% |
Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 7 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Enter your "Date of birth"; the full retirement age follows from the birth year.
Enter your "Monthly benefit at full retirement age" to see what each claiming age pays.
Read "Full retirement age" for the age and the month benefits at that age start.
Open "Every age, 62 to 70" to see the benefit and "Of full benefit" share at 62, at 70 and in between.
Social Security retirement benefits can start at any month from 62 to 70. Claim before your full retirement age and the monthly amount is cut for life; claim after it and delayed retirement credits raise it. With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full benefit and waiting until 70 pays 124%.
Start from your own number, or estimate it. The benefit at full retirement age, the primary insurance amount, comes from your 35 highest years of indexed earnings. Your statement at ssa.gov/myaccount shows it. Without one, choose Estimate from my earnings: the calculator indexes each year with SSA's average wage index, averages the best 35 and applies the 2026 formula (90% of the first $1,286 a month, 32% up to $7,749, 15% above). It reproduces SSA's own worked examples to the cent, but it is an estimate, not your record.
What this calculator does not include: spousal and survivor benefits, which often make delaying worth more for the higher earner of a couple; the earnings test, which withholds benefits if you work before full retirement age; income tax on benefits; Medicare premiums taken from the payment; and investment returns on money received early. SSA rounds each amount down, so its figure can be a few cents lower. An estimate, not advice.
The rest of the article, and all 6 questions about Social Security Claiming Age Calculator, are on the Social Security Claiming Age Calculator page.
With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at exactly 62 pays 70% of your full benefit: 36 months at 5/9 of 1% and 24 months at 5/12 of 1% add up to a 30% cut. With a full retirement age of 66, the cut is 25%. The reduction is permanent and stays after you reach full retirement age.
Delayed retirement credits add 2/3 of 1% for every month after full retirement age, 8% a year, for anyone born in 1943 or later. With a full retirement age of 67, waiting to 70 adds 24%, so a $2,000 benefit becomes $2,480 a month. Credits stop at 70, so waiting longer gains nothing.
Full retirement age is 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954, 66 and 2 months for 1955, rising two months a year to 66 and 10 months for 1959, and 67 for 1960 or later. Anyone born on 1 January uses the previous year, because Social Security treats an age as reached the day before a birthday.
The break-even age is when the total received from claiming later catches up with the total from claiming earlier. For someone with a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 70 rather than at 62 and 1 month breaks even at about 80 and a half. Living past that age makes waiting the better deal in lifetime dollars.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
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