Social Security for anyone born in 1965 or later
The rules on age are settled for you; the dollar amounts of your formula are not, and any estimate has to say so.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
For everyone born in 1965 or later (and anyone born on January 1, 1966 counts as 1965), the full retirement age is 67, for retirement, spouse and survivor benefits alike; benefits can start at 62 at 70% of the PIA and grow to 124% at 70. What is not known yet is the formula year: you turn 62 in 2027 or later, and the SSA publishes each year's bend points only in the autumn before they apply, from the wage index of two years earlier. Your earnings will be indexed to the average wage of the year you turn 60, which for most of you has not happened or has not been measured. The only honest estimate is therefore in today's dollars: earnings indexed to the 2024 average wage, 69,846.57, and run through the 2026 bend points, $1,286 and $7,749, the method of the SSA Quick Calculator. On that basis a career at $65,000 in today's pay gives a PIA of $2,479.00: $1,745 at 62, $2,479 at 67 and $3,073 at 70.
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.
What is settled and what is not
The age rules are fixed in the regulations: full retirement age 67, the same reduction of 5/9 of 1% for the first 36 months early and 5/12 beyond, the same 8% a year of delayed credit up to 70. The money rules depend on figures that will only exist later. Your earnings will be indexed to the national average wage of the year you turn 60, and your PIA will use the bend points of the year you turn 62. The SSA publishes each pair in the Federal Register at the end of the year before it applies.
| Born in | Indexing year (60) | Formula year (62) | Full retirement age (67) | Last delayed credit (70) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 2025 | 2027 | 2032 | 2035 |
| 1966 | 2026 | 2028 | 2033 | 2036 |
| 1968 | 2028 | 2030 | 2035 | 2038 |
| 1970 | 2030 | 2032 | 2037 | 2040 |
| 1975 | 2035 | 2037 | 2042 | 2045 |
| 1980 | 2040 | 2042 | 2047 | 2050 |
| 1985 | 2045 | 2047 | 2052 | 2055 |
| 1990 | 2050 | 2052 | 2057 | 2060 |
| 2000 | 2060 | 2062 | 2067 | 2070 |
Why we do not project future bend points
Some SSA estimates, such as the online statement for people under 60, project your current pay forward. Whatever projections of future wage indexes and bend points the SSA may apply are not known to us, so this site does not guess them. Every estimate for people born in 1965 or later is computed with the latest published values, the 2024 average wage index and the 2026 bend points. The result is what your career would be worth if you became eligible now, the same approach as the SSA's own Quick Calculator in today's dollars (SSA benefit formula).
That choice has one practical consequence. If wages grow faster than prices between now and your formula year, your real benefit will be higher in purchasing power than a today's-dollar estimate, and the reverse if they lag. Nobody can tell which in advance.
What you can still change
For these cohorts the record is open. Every year of earnings before the one you turn 60 will be indexed, so early years are not worth less than recent ones in the final average. Missing years count as zeros among the 35, so filling a gap often matters more than a raise. And a year of earnings from 60 onward enters at face value. Run your actual record through the earnings-record calculator or check what a salary is worth on how much Social Security will I get. Credits, 40 of them, decide only whether you qualify (SSA credits page); see Social Security credits.