Social Security’s version of retirement age, known as the “full retirement age,” is currently 66. The current eligibility date for Medicare is age 65. Benefits claimed prior to “full retirement age” are hit with early retirement or survivor reductions. Studies have proposed that millions of dollars could be saved by the government if the formal retirement dates for Social Security and Medicare were extended by two or perhaps even three years.
Right now, the earliest you can apply for Social Security benefits is age 62; however, a person who begins claiming their retirement benefit at age 62 will receive only seventy-five percent as much money each month as if they had waited until their full retirement age of 66 to begin claiming benefits. A person claiming a spousal benefit at age 62 would receive only seventy percent as much each month as if they’d waited until full retirement age to claim benefits. If you wait until you’re 70, your monthly benefit will be higher.
“Full retirement age” already is set to begin rising in four years for people born in 1955 and later, and it will reach 67 in two-month increments for people born between 1955 and 1961. For instance: If you were born between 1943 and 1954, your full retirement age is 66.
If you were born between 1955 and 1959, your full retirement age is 66 + two months for each year. For example, if you were born in 1959, your retirement age is 66 + 10 months.
If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67.