Full retirement age by birth year, to the exact month
Enter your birth date and the tool gives the month you reach full retirement age, with the separate age that applies to survivor benefits.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Full retirement age is 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. It was 66 for people born from 1943 to 1954 and rose two months per birth year in between: 66 and 2 months for 1955 up to 66 and 10 months for 1959, as set by 20 CFR 404.409(a). Two calendar quirks decide which row is yours. The SSA considers that you reach an age the day before your birthday, so someone born on January 1 belongs to the previous year's row, and someone born on the 1st of any month reaches each age one month earlier than the birth month suggests. Survivor benefits follow a second table, 404.409(b), that runs two years behind: 66 for widows and widowers born from 1945 to 1956, 67 only from 1962. Starting retirement benefits at 62 keeps 70% of the full amount for a full retirement age of 67, and 75% for one of 66.
Your full retirement age
67
Reached in September 2029
| Earliest retirement benefit (62 for the whole month) | October 2024 |
| Delayed credits stop | September 2032 |
| Full retirement age as a widow(er) | 67 (September 2029) |
| Birth year SSA uses | 1962 |
| Start at | Your own benefit | Spouse benefit (share of worker PIA) |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 70.0% | 32.5% |
| 63 | 75.0% | 35.0% |
| 64 | 80.0% | 37.5% |
| 65 | 86.7% | 41.7% |
| 66 | 93.3% | 45.8% |
| 67 | 100.0% | 50.0% |
| 68 | 108.0% | 50.0% |
| 69 | 116.0% | 50.0% |
| 70 | 124.0% | 50.0% |
Retirement and spouse table
| Born in | Full retirement age | Months from 62 | Worker at 62 | Spouse at 62 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 to 1954 | 66 | 48 | 75.0% | 35.0% |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 50 | 74.2% | 34.6% |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 52 | 73.3% | 34.2% |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 54 | 72.5% | 33.8% |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 56 | 71.7% | 33.3% |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 58 | 70.8% | 32.9% |
| 1960 and later | 67 | 60 | 70.0% | 32.5% |
The percentages follow 20 CFR 404.410: a worker loses 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond, a spouse 25/36 of 1% and then 5/12 of 1%. The SSA's reduction table lists the same values. Because a later full retirement age means more months between 62 and that age, each two-month step in the table costs a little under one percentage point at 62.
The day-before-your-birthday rule
The law counts you as reaching an age on the day before your birthday. For most people this changes nothing. For two groups it moves the calendar by a month or a year:
- Born on the 1st of a month. You attain each age on the last day of the previous month, so you are treated as born in that previous month. Someone born on March 1, 1960 reaches 67 in February 2027; someone born on March 2 reaches it in March 2027.
- Born on January 1. You are treated as born in December of the previous year, so you take the previous year's row. A January 1, 1960 birthday gets 66 and 10 months, not 67.
The tool applies both rules to the date you enter and shows the calendar month, which is what matters for a claim and for the end of the earnings test.
Survivor table: two years behind
| Born in | Survivor full retirement age | Months from 60 | Widow(er) at 60 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 to 1956 | 66 | 72 | 71.5% |
| 1957 | 66 and 2 months | 74 | 71.5% |
| 1958 | 66 and 4 months | 76 | 71.5% |
| 1959 | 66 and 6 months | 78 | 71.5% |
| 1960 | 66 and 8 months | 80 | 71.5% |
| 1961 | 66 and 10 months | 82 | 71.5% |
| 1962 and later | 67 | 84 | 71.5% |
The survivor schedule in 20 CFR 404.409(b) has the same two-month steps, shifted by two birth years. At 60, the earliest age for a non-disabled widow or widower, the benefit is cut by 28.5% whatever the birth year: the reduction is spread over the months between 60 and survivor full retirement age, so a longer span means a smaller monthly cut, not a bigger total one. The SSA uses the retirement table, not the survivor one, to apply the earnings test to survivors.
What changes on the day you reach it
Full retirement age is the point where three rules switch. Your own benefit equals your PIA with no reduction. The earnings test stops, and any months withheld before are credited back through a recomputation. And from that month, each month without a check earns a delayed retirement credit of 2/3 of 1%, up to 70. It is not the age at which Medicare starts, which stays at 65 for everyone. The SSA's normal retirement age page shows where the schedule started: 65 for anyone born in 1937 or earlier, then two more months for each birth year. How it fits with 62, 70 and the survivor ages is laid out in the retirement age guide, and the break-even tool compares starts on either side of it.