Demystifying Social Security’s Full Retirement Age (FRA)

Once upon a time, there was no mystery about Social Security’s full retirement age – everyone received their full benefit if they claimed at 65 years of age, the age set when the program was first enacted in 1935. But way back in 1983, the Social Security program was facing financial difficulty, about to run out of money needed to pay 100% of its benefit obligations. Congress knew it had to act to restore the country’s premier retirement plan to solvency, so Democrats and Republicans worked together (imagine that) to develop multifaceted legislation to get the job done. Raising the age at which full retirement benefits were paid was part of that broad 1983 legislation – rightfully so since average life expectancy had risen substantially over the years.

Congressional legislators knew that raising the full retirement age (FRA) would be an unpopular change with voters. So, Congress (as politicians) found a way to ease potential voter ire – increase the FRA gradually so that only future beneficiaries were affected. Hence was born a new formula for slowly increasing Social Security’s full retirement age which is still law today. When enacted in 1983, the new FRA rules affected those who were between age 23 and 45 at the time – too far before retirement to cause great concern. Those born in 1938 were the first to be affected by the new rules, which added 2 months to the FRA according to the beneficiary’s year of birth. Here’s what the new (and current) full retirement age chart looks like:

Year of BirthFull Retirement Age1937 and earlier65193865 plus 2 months193965 plus 4 months194065 plus 6 months194165 plus 8 months194265 plus 10 months1943 – 195466195566 plus 2 months195666 plus 4 months195766 plus 6 months195866 plus 8 months195966 plus 10 months1960 and later67

Claiming exactly at full retirement age means getting 100% of the SS retirement benefit earned from a lifetime of working but claiming before FRA means a permanently reduced Social Security retirement benefit. Spousal benefits and survivor benefits are also affected by the date those benefits are claimed relative to full retirement age as shown above. FYI, most beneficiaries claiming Social Security today will have a full retirement age of 66, or 67, or somewhere in between.