Social Security Full Retirement Age 2026: In the United States, the commonly recognized full retirement age of social security is 67 years. Currently, there are great legislative concepts and financial strains on the social security trust fund that are leading to a movement to increase the social security age even more. In this case you are able to check how millions of Americans are planning their retirement, jobs, savings and long-term financial security.
The Social Security Administration has ensured that the full retirement age (FRA) of these individuals will obligatory be 67, and the last scheduled raise that was made by the congress act of 1983 in which the program was established to enhance its financial sustainability.
At the moment, the FRA is 66 years and 10 months of the people born in 1959. Beginning in 2026, any individual born in 1960 or later will not receive full benefits unless he or she reaches the age of 67. Though, workers can opt to receive benefits earlier at the age of 62, the option will result in a permanent loss of about 30 percent as opposed to receiving benefits at their full retirement age.
Social Security Full Retirement Age 2026
| Year of Birth | Full Retirement Age (FRA) |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months |
| 1960 or later | 67 |
What Impact of the Change Will It have on Benefits?
Increasing Social Security full retirement age has an impact on all the claiming options. Your monthly payments will be a lot less in case you retire early at the age of 62. Full benefits are assured by retiring at the new full retirement age of 65 and additional benefits are available by retiring later at age 70. The difference between the early and late retirement age will increase, so the time is of essence.
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Chart of % of Full Benefit
| Age You Start Benefits | % of Full Benefit |
| 62 | 70% |
| 63 | 75% |
| 64 | 80% |
| 65 | 86.7% |
| 66 | 93.3% |
| 67 | 100% (Full Benefit) |
| 68 | 108% |
| 69 | 116% |
| 70 | 124% |
Why Retiring to Social Security at 62 May Impact Your Benefits?
This is the reason why a lot of people prefer to wait until they have reached full retirement or FRA. That is when you are able to receive your benefits of Social Security without any decrease. However, there is one critical change to FRA that occurs in 2026, and it might affect when you sign up.
Full retirement age used to be 65 which was the age at which majority of the people were eligible to receive Medicare. The legislators increased FRA, which transformed it progressively to 67 years of age based on the year of birth to strengthen the finances of the Social Security program.
Could Social Security’s Full Retirement Age Increase Again?
Social Security has been experiencing an enormous crunch on financing and unless legislators act, sweeping benefit reductions might take place. Another point that has been brought up is an increase in the full retirement age back to 68 or 69 years of age of workers born after a specified date.
Should change of this kind be introduced, it would presumably be carried out in stages, FRA being added in a few month blocks and only to younger employees, not those just approaching retirement.
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Know About Delaying Social Security Benefits Past Full Retirement Age
When one is approaching retirement, it is particularly vital to be aware of your full retirement age and it can be beneficial to not retire until your full age since otherwise you may see less benefits due to having Social Security as your primary source of income.
It should also be kept in mind that the postponement of the Social Security beyond the full retirement age augments your monthly earnings by 8 percent annually as long as you wait till the age of 70. On that, no extra advantage of waiting.
Impact on Younger Retirees
The FRA will periodically increase among individuals born between 1955 and 1960 reaching 66 years and 2 months to 66 years and 10 months and lastly reaching 67 years among individuals born in 1960 and beyond. Although this slow transition is meant to provide the employees time to adjust, professionals are cautious that younger retirees who are planning their social security funds will struggle as well.
Besides, financial readiness is one of the key issues irrespective of the small scope of the increase. Vanguard research indicated that only about 40 percent of Americans believe that they will be in a position to live the same lifestyle they have during their retirement. Though most Americans anticipate retiring at age 65, retirement age in the United States is 62 with a median age of 62, which is noted by the Transamerica center of Retirement Studies. This is partial to financial strain with 44 percent of Americans planning to reap the benefits of Social Security before they have reached full retirement age, resulting in a reduction in monthly benefits.