Full retirement age (FRA) is the age at which yous can merits your standard Social Security do good, or your master insurance amount (PIA), from Social Security. Your PIA is the standard amount you lot can await to receive based on your aggrandizement-adjusted boilerplate wages earned throughout your career. Full retirement age is 66 for those built-in in 1954 and 67 for those born in 1960 or later -- information technology varies depending on your birth twelvemonth.

Information technology is important to know your full retirement historic period, as it affects when y'all can claim Social Security without reducing your benefits, the amount of delayed retirement credits you can earn in order to heighten your benefits, and how much you tin can earn from working while receiving Social Security without forfeiting any of your benefits.

Social Security full retirement age chart

The chart below shows the full retirement historic period for people built-in at different times.

A table of Social Security full retirement age by birth years.

Data source: Social Security Administration. Chart past author.

How does full retirement age affect your Social Security benefits?

If you claim your benefits at full retirement age, you will receive your standard Social Security benefit corporeality. If y'all merits prior to FRA, you volition be subject to early filing penalties that reduce your benefit by the following amounts:

  • 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before FRA
  • 5/12 of one% for each subsequent month earlier FRA

This amounts to a 6.seven% annual reduction for each of the first three years and an additional 5% reduction for each following twelvemonth before FRA. If you claim benefits at 62 with an FRA of 67, you will face a total thirty% reduction in benefits.

Past contrast, if y'all merits benefits after FRA, you receive delayed retirement credits valued at 2/3 of 1% per month. This results in an viii% annual increase to your monthly benefit. Delayed retirement credits tin can exist earned until historic period seventy, after which time in that location is no financial benefit to delaying your claim. Delayed retirement credits cannot be earned if you are claiming either spousal or survivor benefits.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor Earn as much equally $17,166 in additional social security benefits »

Working after full retirement age FAQ

Retirees may piece of work while collecting Social Security benefits, but those younger than their FRA will be discipline to the retirement earnings test (RET).

Under this test, if your earnings exceed a certain limit (which changes annually), you will temporarily forfeit some or all of your benefits. Once you reach full retirement age, your do good is recalculated and you lot may receive most of that coin back.

Tin can I work after full retirement age?

Yous tin work after total retirement age and earn equally much as you'd like without the corporeality of your Social Security benefits beingness affected at all.

How much tin I earn if I work later on my total retirement age?

If you keep to work subsequently reaching full retirement historic period, you may work and earn as much as you'd like. Y'all will not exist subject to the retirement earnings test, and your Social Security benefits will not be affected.

If you work prior to FRA, you may forfeit role of your benefits if you earn higher up annual thresholds. Still, your do good amount will be recalculated at full retirement age to account for most of those forfeited funds.

Does working after full retirement age increase Social Security benefits?

Working after full retirement age could increase your Social Security benefits. Your benefits are based on boilerplate wages over your 35 highest-earning years (adjusted for inflation).

Even after you lot've reached total retirement age, and even if you've already claimed benefits, the Social Security Administration continues to recalculate your average annual wage to account for new income. If your earnings after FRA are higher than previous years and enhance your average wage for your 35 summit-earning years, your benefits could rise appropriately.

Other key questions about full retirement age

At that place are a few other key things you may need to know well-nigh full retirement age.

Do survivor benefits increment later on full retirement historic period?

If you are the surviving spouse who is challenge benefits based on your deceased partner's work record, there is no benefit to waiting until later FRA to merits your benefits. Yous do non earn delayed retirement credits, and then your benefit volition not increment.

However, if yous are the higher-earning spouse, delaying your claim for benefits until after FRA tin can effect in your widow(er) receiving more monthly income, as your widowed partner volition receive the higher of the two monthly benefits yous were each receiving.

Are Social Security benefits taxable at full retirement age?

Your age does not have an impact on whether you will owe taxation on Social Security benefits. Depending on your earnings, you may pay federal taxes on Social Security benefits regardless of the age at which you merits.

Social Security benefits are taxed on amounts exceeding the "provisional income" limit set past the IRS. To calculate your provisional income, add upward all non-Social Security sources of income, including nontaxable income such equally municipal bond involvement, and include half of your annual Social Security income.

Unmarried filers earning conditional income between $25,000 and $34,000 and married articulation filers earning betwixt $32,000 and $44,000 volition owe income taxes on fifty% of their Social Security benefits. For unmarried filers with conditional income above $34,000 and married filers above $44,000, up to 85% of Social Security benefits will be taxable.

Is your full retirement age affected by where y'all live?

Your FRA is non affected past where y'all alive. About Social Security rules, including those that decide benefit amount and claiming historic period, are fix by federal law. However, some states do tax Social Security benefits, so where yous alive can affect tax levels on your retirement income. Only once more, the age at which you lot claim benefits won't affect your revenue enhancement rate -- your income is the key factor.

Expert Q&A

The Motley Fool touched base with retirement adept Jialu Streeter, Ph.D., a Enquiry Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Jialu Streeter, Ph.D., a Research Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity. Jialu's research primarily focuses on the economics of aging, retirement security, and financial security and mental wellbeing of older adults.

Jialu Streeter, Ph.D., a Research Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity. Jialu'south research primarily focuses on the economics of aging, retirement security, and financial security and mental wellbeing of older adults.

The Motley Fool: Considering of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans now fearfulness they won't be able to retire. What is your advice for someone who may be worried nigh retiring because of recent fiscal setbacks?

Streeter: Offset, I would suggest the person and their family take a thorough review of all their assets and debt, including dwelling house equity, mortgages, student loans (including their children's if they take co-signed), retirement plan balances, and other checking and savings accounts. Second, it's important to understand the implications of retirement age on the Social Security benefits. For some people who are in skillful health and tin afford to delay Social Security, it might be better for them to delay in order to receive higher benefits for the rest of their lives. Third, the person or family need to have an honest conversation virtually their envisioned retirement style. Eastward.g., will they travel much? Will they dine out or cook at home? Lastly, the longevity hazard. Whether they volition outlive their wealth. People need to put all these points together in order to see whether they are on track of a retirement life that they had planned for.