Retirement Social Security

This Social Security Rule Will Change One Final Time in 2026

It has been years in the making.

By Katy Willis

Edited by Amanda Machado

Updated Dec. 5, 2025

For most of Social Security's history, full retirement age (FRA) was simple. You hit 65, you get your full benefit. That started to change in the 1980s, when Congress passed a law that slowly pushed the retirement age higher to help shore up the program's finances. Since then, each new birth cohort has seen its full retirement age creep up a little more, from 65 to 66, and now toward 67.

Under current law, the full retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later is 67. There are no further automatic increases scheduled, which makes 2026 an important turning point. This may just sound like a technicality, but it directly affects how big your monthly check is, how much you give up by filing early, and how much you gain by waiting.

Understanding how this change affects you helps you plan for your future for a stress-free retirement.

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What exactly changes in 2026

Social Security assigns everyone a full retirement age, which is the age you can first receive 100% of your basic benefit, known as your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). For decades, the age was 65. The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act set a schedule that gradually raised the FRA from 65 to 67 based on your year of birth.

That schedule finishes in 2026. People born between 1955 and 1959 see full retirement ages that range from 66 and 2 months up to 66 and 10 months. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is a flat 67. According to the current law, full retirement age will not rise above 67 for younger workers unless Congress changes the rules again.

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Who this final shift affects

If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67, regardless of whether you plan to file in 2026, 2036, or 2046.

Younger workers are also in this retirement framework, even if they don't realize it. Surveys show many Americans still expect to claim around age 65, even though full retirement age is now 67 for those born in 1960 or later.

If you've built your retirement plan around the idea that hitting age 65 means receiving full benefits, now is the time to readjust your plan for receiving your full benefit amount at 67.

How full retirement age at 67 changes your benefit

Full retirement age is the reference point for every adjustment Social Security makes to your benefit. Your basic benefit, or Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), is calculated from your 35 highest-earning years after adjusting those earnings for wage growth. That number is what you receive if you claim exactly at your full retirement age.

If you were born in 1960 or later, claiming early creates a larger reduction than it did for someone whose FRA was 65 or 66. With a full retirement age of 67, filing at 62 means you are claiming 60 months early. Social Security applies a reduction formula that cuts your benefit by about 30% if your FRA is 67 and you claim at 62. So you'd only receive roughly 70% of your full benefit amount.

The reverse is also true. If you delay past full retirement age, you earn delayed retirement credits. For people born in 1943 or later, benefits increase by two-thirds of a percent for every month you wait after full retirement age, up to age 70. That is an extra 8% per year. Therefore, waiting from 67 to 70 increases your benefit by around 24%, giving you 124% of your primary insurance amount.

If your full retirement benefit at 67 is $2,000 a month, filing at 62 would cut your benefit to around $1,400 for life. If you waited until 70, your benefit would increase to around $2,480.

Essentially, the move to FRA at 67 stretches the range between the lowest and highest possible monthly checks further, making deciding your claiming age more important.

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Why this final shift matters

In one sense, the 2026 milestone is reassuring, because the FRA increases are finished. Now, everyone born in 1960 or later faces the same full retirement age of 67. There are no automatic adjustments beyond that. This makes it easier to plan your future, because you know your retirement age is set and won't move again unless Congress passes a new law.

At the same time, this final shift can be a quiet drag on your retirement math if you do not account for it. Many people still assume full benefits start at 65, because that was true for earlier generations, and it is still the age for Medicare eligibility. Others aim for 66 without realizing their own full retirement age is now 67. Surveys regularly find that many people are fuzzy on the rules around claiming age and benefit size.

What you should do now

Your first step is to confirm your own full retirement age. You can use the official retirement age calculator or chart to see the exact age based on your birth year and month. Then log in to your "my Social Security" account to view your benefit statement. This shows you what Social Security estimates you would receive at 62, at your full retirement age, and at 70.

Once you know your estimated benefit amount, think about how long you plan to work, what other income sources you have, how your health impacts your ability to work, and how long you can wait to claim.

If you plan to work and claim simultaneously, remember the earnings test that can temporarily reduce your benefit until you reach FRA. Your benefit is then readjusted to compensate you for the withheld months.

Bottom line

Understanding your full retirement age and how it affects your benefit lets you properly plan for retirement. Using your "my Social Security" account to see when your full benefit is available, how much you'll get if you file early, or if you wait and claim at 70, helps you budget and make strategic decisions so you don't make avoidable money mistakes.

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