It used to be that 65 was the retirement age for all eligible workers 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 past the retirement age of 65.
Now, retirement ages to qualify for full Social Security benefits range from 65 to 67.
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 |
Early Retirement Age
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 between 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 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
- Retirement age is 66, then your benefit reduction will be about 25 percent
- Retirement age is 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.
But, 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 2008, then your benefits will be reduced by $1 for each $2 you earn in excess of $13,560 annually.
That’s subject to change in 2009 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 planning tools, browse Social Security Online, the official Web site of the SSA.
Medicare eligibility starts at age 65, regardless of retirement age. Subsequently, you might also be interested in browsing Medicare, the official government site for same by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
