Planning for retirement
Retirement Age in the US: Full Retirement Age Chart by Birth Year
People ask what the retirement age is as if there were one. There are several, and each belongs to a different program. The one most people mean is Social Security's full retirement age, so the chart comes first.
The short version
- Full retirement age for Social Security is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, and between 66 and 67 if you were born from 1943 through 1959.
- You can claim as early as 62. With a full retirement age of 67, that cuts your monthly benefit by 30%.
- Waiting past full retirement age adds 8% a year until 70. Starting at 70 with a full retirement age of 67 pays 124% of your full benefit.
- The Medicare age is 65 for everyone. It didn't move when Social Security's age did.
- No law sets an age when you have to stop working.
Social Security retirement age chart by birth year
Find your birth year. The second column is your full retirement age, the age at which Social Security pays 100% of the benefit you've earned. The last two columns show what claiming at 62 or at 70 does to that monthly amount.
| Year you were born | Full retirement age | Benefit at 62 | Benefit at 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 through 1954 | 66 | 25% less | 132% of full |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 25.83% less | 130.7% of full |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 26.67% less | 129.3% of full |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 27.5% less | 128% of full |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 28.33% less | 126.7% of full |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 29.17% less | 125.3% of full |
| 1960 or later | 67 | 30% less | 124% of full |
The ages and the age-62 reductions come from the Social Security Administration's retirement age and benefit reduction chart. The age-70 column comes from the agency's actuarial table of benefits by claiming age. The agency notes that the percentages are rounded.
Two birthday quirks. If you were born on January 1, use the year before. And if you were born on the 1st of any month, Social Security treats your birthday as falling in the month before.
Born in 1959? You reach full retirement age somewhere between November 2025 and October 2026, depending on your birth month. Born in 1960? Yours arrives in 2027, on your 67th birthday. After that the chart stops changing. Everyone younger has the same answer: 67.
What is the retirement age in the US?
There isn't a single legal one. No federal law says you retire at 65, or 67, or any other birthday.
What the law does set is a string of ages at which particular doors open:
- 62 is the earliest you can start Social Security retirement benefits.
- 65 is when Medicare starts.
- 66 to 67 is full retirement age, when Social Security pays your full benefit.
- 70 is when waiting for a bigger Social Security check stops paying.
Your retirement age is a choice you make inside those limits. You can stop working at 60 and claim Social Security at 67. You can claim at 62 and keep working. The day you leave your job and the day you file for benefits don't have to match.
When to take Social Security: 62, full retirement age, or 70
Your benefit is built around one figure: what you'd get each month at full retirement age. Claim before that and it's reduced. Claim after and it's increased. Both changes last for life, apart from yearly cost-of-living raises.
Claiming at 62
The reduction works month by month. Social Security takes off 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months you claim early, and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond that.
With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early. That adds up to 30%. Say your full benefit would be $2,000 a month. At 62 you'd get $1,400.
A spouse's benefit is cut more for claiming early. At most it's half of the worker's full benefit, and at 62 it's reduced by 35% for someone whose full retirement age is 67.
One detail catches people. You have to be 62 for a whole month before a benefit is payable, so for nearly everyone the first possible month is the one after their 62nd birthday.
Claiming at full retirement age
You get 100%. In the example, $2,000 a month. Full retirement age is also the point where the earnings test below goes away.
Waiting until 70
For anyone born in 1943 or later, each month you wait past full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%. That's 8% a year. The credits stop at 70, so there's no reason to wait longer than that.
If your full retirement age is 67, three years of waiting gets you 124%. The $2,000 benefit becomes $2,480.
| Age you start (full retirement age 67) | Share of full benefit | On a $2,000 full benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 70% | $1,400 a month |
| 67 | 100% | $2,000 a month |
| 70 | 124% | $2,480 a month |
That's $1,080 a month between the earliest claim and the latest, for the rest of your life. The trade is time. Someone who claims at 62 collects eight years of checks before the person waiting until 70 sees one.
We won't tell you which is right. It turns on your health, whether you're still working, what other savings you can live on meanwhile, and whether a spouse will depend on your benefit after you're gone.
Your own figures are in your Social Security statement at ssa.gov. If you're weighing an early start against a modest nest egg, our guide to retiring at 62 with $400,000 works through one case.
Working before full retirement age: the earnings test
You can collect Social Security and work at the same time. If you're under full retirement age and earn over a limit, though, Social Security holds back part of your benefit.
| Your situation in 2026 | Earnings limit for 2026 | What's withheld above it |
|---|---|---|
| Under full retirement age all year | $24,480 | $1 of benefits for every $2 over |
| Reaching full retirement age during 2026 | $65,160, counting only the months before you reach it | $1 of benefits for every $3 over |
| At full retirement age or older | No limit | Nothing |
Take someone who claimed at 63 and earns $34,480 from a job in 2026. That's $10,000 over the limit, so Social Security withholds $5,000 of that year's benefits.
Only pay from work counts: wages, bonuses, commissions, vacation pay, and net profit from self-employment. Pensions, annuities, interest, and investment income don't.
The withheld money isn't gone. In the agency's words, those benefits are not "lost." When you reach full retirement age, Social Security recalculates your monthly benefit upward to give you credit for the months it held back. The limits rise most years, so check the current figures at ssa.gov if you're reading this after 2026.
Medicare age: 65, whatever your Social Security age is
Medicare eligibility starts at 65. It doesn't matter that your full retirement age is 67, or that you haven't claimed Social Security.
You get a seven-month window to sign up, called the Initial Enrollment Period. It opens three months before the month you turn 65 and closes three months after it. Miss it without other qualifying coverage and you can owe a late enrollment penalty on your Part B premium for as long as you have Part B.
The exception is job coverage. If you or your spouse are still working and you're covered by that employer's group health plan, you can put off Part B without a penalty. When the job or the coverage ends, you have eight months to sign up. COBRA doesn't stretch that window. Ask your benefits office how your plan works with Medicare before you delay.
Other ages that matter for your savings
Social Security and Medicare aren't the only programs with birthdays attached. The tax rules for 401(k)s and IRAs have their own.
| Age | What changes |
|---|---|
| 50 | Catch-up contributions begin in the year you turn 50. For 2026 that's an extra $8,000 in a 401(k) and an extra $1,100 in an IRA. |
| 55 | The rule of 55. Leave a job in or after the year you turn 55 and withdrawals from that employer's plan avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty. It doesn't apply to IRAs. |
| 59½ | The 10% early withdrawal penalty ends for IRAs and workplace plans. |
| 60 to 63 | A higher 401(k) catch-up for the years you turn 60, 61, 62, or 63: $11,250 for 2026 in place of $8,000, if your plan offers it. |
| 65 | Medicare. |
| 73 or 75 | Required minimum distributions begin: 73 if you were born from 1951 through 1958, 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. For 1959, age 73 is an IRS proposal that isn't final yet. |
The dollar figures are the IRS limits for 2026. The full set is in our guide to 401(k) contribution limits for 2026.
Three of those rows have their own guides here: the rule of 55, RMD age by birth year, and the catch-up years in retirement planning in your 50s. If you're earlier on, retirement planning in your 40s covers what to set up while these ages are still ahead of you.
What is the average retirement age?
The government doesn't publish an official one, so the figures you see come from surveys. Gallup has asked the question for decades. In its April 2022 poll, retirees said they'd retired at 61 on average. That was up from 57 when Gallup asked in 1991.
People still working gave a different number. In the same poll they expected to retire at 66.
That five-year gap is the useful part. People stop earlier than they'd planned, and it isn't always their call.
We'd test your plan against leaving two or three years sooner than your target. If the numbers don't hold, you've learned that while there's time to adjust. The retirement calculator lets you change the age and rerun it. How much do I need to retire? is the place to start on those numbers.
Common questions
What is the retirement age for Social Security?
Full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later, and between 66 and 67 for people born from 1943 through 1959. You can start reduced benefits as early as 62 or wait for a larger benefit until 70.
What is the full retirement age if I was born in 1960?
It's 67. Claiming at 62 would reduce your monthly benefit by 30%, and waiting until 70 would raise it to 124% of your full amount.
Is the retirement age 65 or 67?
Both numbers are real, for different programs. Medicare starts at 65. Social Security's full retirement age was 65 for people born in 1937 or earlier and is 67 for people born in 1960 or later.
Can I retire at 62 and still work?
Yes. If you're under full retirement age all year and earn more than $24,480 in 2026, Social Security withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 over the limit. The withheld amount is credited back through a higher monthly benefit once you reach full retirement age.
Is the full retirement age going up again?
Not under current law. It's 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. Changing it would take an act of Congress, and the ages on this page are the rules as of 2026.
Do I have to sign up for Medicare at 65 if I'm waiting on Social Security?
You have to decide at 65. Medicare has its own sign-up window around your 65th birthday, separate from Social Security. If you don't have qualifying coverage through a current job, yours or your spouse's, signing up late can mean a lasting penalty on your Part B premium.
We base our guides on primary sources such as the IRS, the Department of Labor, and federal regulators. Read our editorial policy. Spot an error? Tell us.
