The social security full retirement age chart gives this household one firm answer: someone born in 1960 or later reaches full retirement age at 67.
The chart does not set a personal dollar benefit. It marks the age tied to a full retirement benefit before delayed retirement credits.
The Social Security Administration lists an 8% increase for each year benefits wait past full retirement age. For people born in 1943 or later, credits stop at age 70.
What changes when that 67th birthday arrives? The earnings test ends, while the choice to claim or wait can still change the monthly benefit.
The 15 sections here separate those rules. They also cover 2026 earnings limits, delayed credits, overpayments, widow(er) errors, and student loan offsets.
Start where you stand
Before the details, map your own situation and see which programs you are likely to qualify for.
See what one approval protects
One approval here can open or steady other programs. See what your decision affects across each one before you change anything.
Straight answer: the rules engine computes about $2,823 a month in combined support for the example household on this page — $969 from SNAP, $690 from Medicaid, and $610 from EITC, plus two smaller programs. Medicaid is health coverage, not money you receive — that figure is what the coverage is worth. EITC is an annual credit shown as a monthly average; it arrives as one payment after you file a tax return. Your own figure depends on your household — every tool below computes it from the same rules.
Social Security full retirement age chart for 1960 onward
Your Social Security decision starts with the birth year on the household member’s record. A birth year of 1960 or later points to age 67.
That rule supplies the full retirement age. It does not supply the household member’s personal payment amount.
Pick the birth-year line that matches the retirement decision. The chart keeps the age rule separate from later choices about claiming and work.
The single line matters because the cited rule covers this whole birth-year group. Age 67 remains the central point for the rest of this guide.
Age 67 marks full retirement age
A household member born in 1960 or later reaches full retirement age at 67. Claiming decisions can sit before, at, or after that point.
Full retirement age describes timing within Social Security. It does not mean everyone receives the same monthly amount at 67.
The age also controls which 2026 earnings-test rule applies. Before full retirement age, earnings can cause benefits to be withheld under the listed limits.
At full retirement age, that earnings test ends. Work then stops triggering withholding under this particular retirement rule.
Your Social Security amount involves more than the chart
Your household may know the correct retirement age without knowing the monthly Social Security amount. The chart settles only the age question for this birth-year group.
A dollar estimate cannot come from age 67 alone. The useful figures here describe delayed credits and withholding rules rather than a personal base benefit.
Waiting past full retirement age adds 8% per year for people born in 1943 or later. Monthly credits build at 2/3 of 1%.
Those percentages apply to the benefit tied to the person’s record. They do not turn the age chart into a personal payment quote.
Claiming after 67 can earn delayed credits
Your retirement choice can move beyond age 67 when the household member has not claimed. Delayed retirement credits then apply under the stated rule.
Each year delayed past full retirement age adds 8% for someone born in 1943 or later. A shorter delay earns 2/3 of 1% per month.
These credits describe a rate of increase. No new dollar amount belongs in the decision until the household knows the benefit used for that calculation.
Move the claiming point to see where full retirement age ends and delayed credits begin.
Moving past age 67 changes the decision from reaching full retirement age to earning delayed credits.
The birthday at 67 opens the delayed-credit period. Age 70 closes it.
Delayed credits stop at age 70
The age 70 boundary keeps the household’s delay decision from running without an endpoint. Delayed retirement credits stop building at that age.
Someone born in 1960 or later therefore has a clear span after full retirement age. It starts after 67 and ends at 70.
The 8% yearly rule and 2/3 of 1% monthly rule apply within that span. Credits do not continue past the stopping age.
Compare the key ages and rates before choosing a claiming month. Each figure answers a different part of the same retirement decision.
2026 earnings test before full retirement age
Working while the household member remains below full retirement age can bring the 2026 earnings test into the decision. The annual exempt amount stands at $24,480.
The same rule lists $2,040/month. Earnings above the applicable limit cause $1 to be withheld for every $2 earned above it.
This rule concerns benefits claimed while working before full retirement age. It does not change the chart’s age 67 line.
For someone under full retirement age throughout 2026, the $24,480 annual figure controls the stated test. The withholding formula then applies above that limit.
The 2026 rule during your full retirement year
The year your household member reaches full retirement age carries a different 2026 earnings rule. Its annual exempt amount rises to $65,160.
A monthly figure of $5,430 also appears in the rule. Only months before reaching full retirement age count for this test.
Above the applicable limit, $1 gets withheld for every $3 earned. That differs from the $1-for-$2 rule used when under full retirement age all year.
The timing of the 67th birthday therefore matters during that calendar year. Once full retirement age arrives, the retirement earnings test ends.
Does the earnings test end at full retirement age?
Once your household member reaches full retirement age, the earnings test ends. The age chart tells someone born in 1960 or later that this happens at 67.
Before that birthday, one of the 2026 limits may apply. During the year of the birthday, only earlier months fall under the special rule.
After reaching full retirement age, earnings no longer cause withholding under this retirement earnings test. That answers the question raised at the start.
The claiming choice can still affect delayed credits. Waiting after 67 continues to earn the stated credits until age 70.
A household Social Security eligibility check
The household’s Social Security age check starts with birth year, yet its wider benefits picture can contain separate eligibility results. Those programs follow their own rules.
Enter the household details to see which benefit lines match the current situation. Keep that result separate from the age 67 retirement rule.
The check can help organize the household’s broader benefit questions. It cannot replace the Social Security full retirement age chart or create a retirement payment amount.
For this retirement decision, someone born in 1960 or later still uses age 67. Other household benefits do not move that full retirement age.
Social Security and the 2026 COLA
When you review a retirement check in 2026, look for the cost-of-living adjustment alongside the age decision. The 2026 COLA equals 2.8%.
That adjustment took effect in January 2026 for Social Security. The cited figure covers about 71 million beneficiaries.
SSI received the adjustment effective December 31, 2025. That date belongs to the COLA rule, while age 67 belongs to full retirement age.
The 2.8% figure does not change the birth-year chart. Someone born in 1960 or later still reaches full retirement age at 67.
Social Security overpayments after March 27, 2025
A Social Security overpayment notice can change what the household receives, even after the correct retirement age has been found. New Title II overpayments face a 100% default recovery rate.
That rate applies to overpayments after March 27, 2025. Title II includes retirement, disability, and survivor benefits.
The earlier default stood at 10% from March 2024 through March 2025. A lower recovery rate can be requested through Form SSA-632.
SSI follows a different rule. Its overpayment recovery rate equals 10% of the monthly SSI payment.
These recovery rules affect payment handling. They leave the age 67 full-retirement rule unchanged.
The 60-day Social Security appeal window
Your household faces a time limit when it disputes an overpayment decision. Form SSA-561 carries a 60-day appeal window from the overpayment notice.
That form requests reconsideration. The countdown attaches to the notice rather than the household member’s full retirement age.
Form SSA-632 covers a waiver or a lower recovery rate. The cited rule gives that form no time limit.
Choose the line that matches the household’s issue: disagreement with the decision, a waiver request, or a lower recovery rate.
The 60-day window makes the notice date important. A request involving Form SSA-632 follows the separate no-time-limit rule.
8,618 widow(er)s in the 2026 audit
A surviving household member may face a different Social Security decision from a retired worker. An April 2026 audit found 8,618 widow(er)s had been underpaid.
The finding involved cases where a spouse died before age 62 and the appropriate computation was not applied.
Total underpayment reached $50.4 million. The audit reported about $5,847 on average across the 8,618 affected widow(er)s.
Those figures describe the group found in that audit. They do not set an amount for every surviving spouse.
An eligible surviving spouse or child may also receive a $255 one-time death payment. Form SSA-8 carries a 2-year application period.
The 15% Social Security student loan offset cap
A household carrying a defaulted federal student loan may see a Treasury offset applied to Social Security. The percentage cap equals 15% of the monthly benefit.
The rule protects a $750/month floor from offset. The offset uses the lesser of 15% or the amount above $750.
That protected floor dates to 1996. It operates separately from full retirement age, delayed credits, and the retirement earnings test.
Pick each common question to separate the age rule from payment adjustments and recovery rules.
Each answer keeps the age 67 rule separate from other changes to a monthly payment.
The offset can change the amount received during a month. It does not move full retirement age away from 67 for someone born in 1960 or later.
If part of your situation reaches past this page, the guides below cover the next step directly.
Your retirement decision at age 67 or 70
Your household now has two clear markers for the Social Security decision. Age 67 marks full retirement age, while age 70 ends delayed credits.
Claiming at 67 reaches the full-retirement point for someone born in 1960 or later. Waiting can add 8% per year or 2/3 of 1% per month.
Work adds another question before full retirement age. The 2026 limits determine whether the earnings test withholds benefits during that period.
At full retirement age, the earnings test ends. Delayed credits can continue until 70 when claiming waits.
The chart therefore answers eligibility for the age rule, rather than a personal dollar amount. For this household, 67 controls the full-retirement date.