Social Security if you were born in 1964
The 2026 formula is written for you: you are the cohort that becomes eligible this year.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
If you were born in 1964 (from January 2, 1964 to January 1, 1965), you become eligible for retirement benefits in 2026, so your primary insurance amount uses the 2026 bend points, $1,286 and $7,749, and your earnings are indexed to the 2024 national average wage index, 69,846.57. Your full retirement age is 67, reached in 2031. Starting at 62 keeps 70% of the PIA after 60 months of reduction; waiting to 70, in 2034, raises it to 124%. The SSA's own 2026 example is a worker born in 1964: an AIME of $5,825 gives a PIA of $2,609.80 and $1,826 a month at 62. No COLA applies to your PIA before the one announced for December 2026, because COLAs only start in the year you turn 62.
Your full retirement age and what it does to your check
Full retirement age
67
| At 62 and 1 month | $1,408 (70.4%) |
| At 70 | $2,480 (124.0%) |
| Survivor full retirement age | 67 |
Born on January 1? Use the year before.
The first cohort on the 2026 formula
Everyone born in 1964 shares the same formula year, 2026, and the same indexing year, 2024. That has a practical consequence: two people born in 1963 and 1964 with the same career are computed with different bend points, $1,226 against $1,286 for the first one, and the 1963 cohort also received the 2.8% COLA of December 2025. Our bend points page shows how much the formula year moves a PIA.
The SSA's 2026 calculation example uses precisely a worker born in 1964 retiring at 62 in 2026. Its earnings of $16,196 in 1986 are multiplied by 4.0323 to reach $65,307 in 2024 wages, and so on for each year. Our engine reproduces that example to the dime, which is the best test there is for a 1964 birth.
Your calendar
| Start at | Year | Share of PIA | If your PIA is $2,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 and 1 month | 2026 | 70.4% | $1,408 |
| 63 | 2027 | 75.0% | $1,500 |
| 64 | 2028 | 80.0% | $1,600 |
| 65 | 2029 | 86.7% | $1,733 |
| 66 | 2030 | 93.3% | $1,866 |
| 67 | 2031 | 100.0% | $2,000 |
| 68 | 2032 | 108.0% | $2,160 |
| 69 | 2033 | 116.0% | $2,320 |
| 70 | 2034 | 124.0% | $2,480 |
Medicare starts at 65, in 2029, whether or not you have started Social Security; delaying benefits does not delay the Medicare enrollment window. Until 2031 the earnings test applies if you work while collecting: in the calendar year you turn 67 the higher limit applies to earnings before your birthday month.
What a 1964 birth does not change
The reduction rules for starting early, 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months and 5/12 beyond (20 CFR 404.410), and the delayed credit of 2/3 of 1% per month are the same for every cohort born from 1960 onward. Being born on January 1, 1965 puts you in this group too: the SSA counts you as born in 1964. For the exact month you reach each age, use the full retirement age calculator.