It used to be that the retirement age for all U.S. workers was 65, in order to qualify for full Social Security retirement benefits. That’s no longer the case thanks to Social Security’s financial woes, partly from Americans living longer than ever before past the retirement age of 65.
Now, retirement age to qualify for full Social Security benefits ranges from 65 to 67, depending on the year in which eligible workers were born. Early retirement age is still 62.
Full Retirement Age
“Full retirement age” is how the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) most often refers to the age that qualifies you for full retirement benefits. Less often, the SSA refers to it as “normal retirement age” (NRA), a term that the IRS uses regarding pension plans.
To determine your full retirement age according to the SSA, look for your birth year in this list:
| • 1937 or earlier: 65 • 1938: 65 + 2 months • 1939: 65 + 4 months • 1940: 65 + 6 months • 1941: 65 + 8 months • 1942: 65 + 10 months • 1943-1954: 66 |
• 1955: 66 + 2 months • 1956: 66 + 4 months • 1957: 66 + 6 months • 1958: 66 + 8 months • 1959: 66 + 10 months • 1960 or later: 67 |
For the purpose of full retirement age, people born on January 1 are considered to have been born in the previous year. For example, full retirement age is 66 for a baby boomer who was born on January 1, 1955.
Early Retirement Age
As indicated above, early retirement age (also called “minimum retirement age”) for Social Security benefits is still 62 for all eligible workers. However, there’s still a catch too: If you decide to retire early between age 62 and your full retirement age, then your Social Security retirement benefits will be permanently reduced. That’s because you will start collecting your benefits sooner (and hopefully for longer, to a ripe old age).
The earlier your full retirement age officially occurs, then the smaller your permanent benefit reduction will be for early retirement at age 62; for example, if your full retirement age is:
- 65, then your benefit reduction will be about 20 percent
- 66, then your benefit reduction will be about 25 percent
- 67, then your benefit reduction will be about 30 percent
Additionally, your benefit reduction will shrink slightly for each month that you wait to retire early between age 62 and your full retirement age.
However, there’s another catch: If you keep working after retiring early, then your benefits will be further reduced if you earn more than a predetermined limit annually; for example, if you decide to go for early retirement in 2010, then your benefits will be reduced by $1 for each $2 you earn in excess of $14,160 annually.
The annual earnings limit is subject to change for early retirement in 2011 and beyond. Regardless, once you reach full retirement age, then the annual limit on your earnings will be eliminated.
More about Retirement
For more retirement age examples along with much more about about retiring, including retirement planning tools and answers to frequently-asked questions, browse browse Social Security Online, the official Web site of the U.S. Social Security Administration.
Medicare eligibility starts at age 65, regardless of retirement age. Subsequently, you might also be interested in browsing Medicare.gov, the official government site for Medicare by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Social Security Online also provides information about the Medicare Program, particularity as it relates to retirement.
