Personal Finance & Estate › Social Security › When to claim Social Security: 62 vs. 67 vs. 70
Full retirement age (67 if born 1960 or later)
Set by 1983 law· Concept or strategy
Law or rule (2026)Set by statute, regulation or the agency; numbers change yearly.
The age at which you get your full, unreduced Social Security benefit: 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
See it on the Personal Finance & Estate map →How it works
Full retirement age was 65 until the 1983 Social Security reform raised it in steps: 66 for people born 1943–1954, then two months more per birth year, reaching 67 for those born from 1960 on. Claim earlier and the check is cut by up to 30%; wait and it grows 8% a year until 70. It also sets spousal and survivor reductions and ends the earnings test. Medicare still starts at 65, leaving a two-year gap.
Why it matters for you
Every Social Security percentage is measured from this age, and its gap with Medicare at 65 is a classic enrollment trap.
Rules, limits and sources (2026)
The Social Security Amendments of 1983, based on the Greenspan Commission's plan; SSA publishes the full birth-year table. People born January 1 count as born the prior year.
Watch out for
Several reform plans would raise it again, to 68 or 70, for younger workers; Congress has not acted.
Connections (3)
▸Full retirement age (67 if born 1960 or later) is the benchmark for When to claim Social Security: 62 vs. 67 vs. 70Law or rule (2026)
How they connect
Every claiming choice is measured from full retirement age. Claim at 62, five years early, and you lose 30% for life; each year past 67 adds 8% until 70. The same benchmark sets how much spousal benefits are reduced.
When it applies
The 1983 amendments moved the age from 65 to 67 and phased in larger delay credits, reaching 8% a year for people born 1943 and later.
The rule
SSA publishes the exact factors: 5/9 of 1% off per month for the first 36 months early, and 2/3 of 1% added per month of delay.
Watch out for
If Congress raises the age again, early claiming would be cut more deeply for younger workers; proposals differ on how far and how fast.
▸Full retirement age (67 if born 1960 or later) no longer lines up with Medicare enrollment windows & late penaltiesWatch out
How they connect
Medicare starts at 65, but full Social Security now comes at 67. When both began at 65, many signed up together; now anyone not yet collecting Social Security must actively enroll in Medicare at 65, or risk coverage gaps and lifelong penalties.
When it applies
The gap opened as the 1983 law phased full retirement age up from 65, starting with people born in 1938; Medicare's age stayed at 65.
How sure?
SSA and CMS both warn that delaying Social Security does not delay Medicare deadlines.
Watch out for
Some propose raising Medicare's age to match; others say that would shift costs to employers and individuals.
▸Retirement earnings test (working before FRA) ends at Full retirement age (67 if born 1960 or later)Law or rule (2026)
How they connect
The earnings test stops the month you reach full retirement age. From then on you can earn any amount with no withholding, and SSA recalculates your benefit upward to credit any months that were withheld.
When it applies
The Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 2000 ended the test at full retirement age; before, it applied until 70.
The rule
SSA's annual earnings-limit announcements and its booklet 'How Work Affects Your Benefits' state the cutoff.
Watch out for
Because withheld benefits come back gradually, people who die soon after full retirement age effectively lose them.