Educational information, not individual financial advice.
Key Takeaways
Full Retirement Age is the pivot point of the Social Security claiming decision. It's the age at which your benefit equals your Primary Insurance Amount — no reduction for claiming early, no increase for claiming late.
Your FRA depends on your birth year:
| Birth year | Full Retirement Age |
|---|---|
| 1943–1954 | 66 |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months |
| 1960 or later | 67 |
For anyone born in 1960 or later, FRA is 67. This covers everyone currently under 66 who's doing planning.
FRA matters for several reasons beyond the headline benefit amount:
Reduction for early claiming. Benefits are reduced 5/9 of 1% per month for each of the first 36 months before FRA, plus 5/12 of 1% per month for any earlier months. For FRA 67:
Delayed retirement credits. Benefits grow 8% per year (2/3 of 1% per month) for each year you delay past FRA, up to age 70:
After 70, no further increases — claim at 70 is the same as claim at 75.
Earnings test. If you claim before FRA and continue to earn wages, SSA withholds some benefit:
Withheld benefits are eventually returned via a higher benefit after FRA, so the earnings test isn't a permanent loss — but it delays the money.
Full spousal benefits. A spouse claiming at their own FRA can get up to 50% of the primary earner's PIA. Claiming before the spouse's FRA reduces this amount.
Survivor benefits start at FRA for 100%. Surviving spouses can claim survivor benefits as early as 60 (50 if disabled), but receive reduced amounts until their own FRA.
Original Social Security set retirement age at 65 (1935). The 1983 Greenspan Commission gradually raised FRA to 67, phased in over decades, to address long-term solvency concerns driven by increasing life expectancy.
The change was designed to be gradual so no cohort felt a large cut. The practical effect is that anyone born 1960+ faces a one-year delay vs someone born in 1937.
Proposals to raise FRA to 68 or 69 have been made by various Social Security Trustees and policy analysts to address the program's long-term funding shortfall. The Trust Fund is projected to deplete around 2033–2035 without legislation; at that point, incoming payroll taxes would cover about 77–80% of promised benefits.
No legislation to extend FRA has passed as of early 2026. Most planners assume the current FRA schedule holds, with the possibility of future changes for younger workers.
You can claim anywhere from 62 to 70 at monthly granularity. The formulas produce appropriate monthly adjustments. If you start at 64 years, 3 months, you get a specific percentage between the 64-and-65 benchmarks.
You can also suspend benefits (after claiming) and resume later, though the rules for this have tightened since 2015.
Horizons determines your FRA from your birth year. The engine applies the correct early-claim reduction or delayed-retirement credit factor based on the claim age you specify. You can model different claim ages side-by-side to compare outcomes — the scenario comparison view shows lifetime benefits, break-even age, and portfolio impact for each.
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