2017 Brings New Changes to Full Retirement Age
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: August 19, 2021
Every worker’s dream is to enjoy a secure retirement. Social Security is here to secure today and tomorrow. Part of that commitment is ensuring you have the most up-to-date information when you make your retirement decisions.
As the bells ring in the New Year, they also bring changes for new Social Security retirement beneficiaries. Full retirement age is 66 and two months for people born 01/02/1955 through 01/01/1956. They are eligible to receive permanently reduced retirement benefits when they turn 62 in 2017.
Full retirement age is the age at which a person first becomes entitled to full (unreduced) retirement benefits. It had been 65 for many years. However, beginning with people born in 1938 that age has been gradually increasing until it reaches 67 for people born in 1960 and later.
As the full retirement age continues to increase, there are greater reductions in benefits if you claim them before you reach full retirement age. For example, if you apply for benefits in 2017 at age 62, your monthly benefit amount will be reduced nearly 26 percent.
You can find your full retirement age, along with other important information, on our website.
Some things you must remember when you’re thinking about retirement:
- You may start receiving Social Security benefits as early as age 62 or as late as age 70. The longer you wait, the higher your monthly benefit will be.
- Your monthly benefits are reduced permanently if you start them any time before full retirement age.
- If you die, your retirement date can affect the payment to your surviving widow or widower. If you started receiving retirement benefits before full retirement age, we cannot pay your surviving spouse their full retirement age benefit amount. We base their benefit on the amount of your reduced benefits.
- If you elect to receive benefits before you reach full retirement age, you should understand how continuing to work affects your benefits.
You can learn more by reading our publication, When to Start Receiving Benefits or visiting our Retirement Planner.
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Tags: full retirement age, retirement benefits, Social Security benefits
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Jim Borland, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Communications
Jim Borland, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Communications
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Tom
Ray….my FRA (66) is May of 2018….I read that if I start to receive SS on January of 2018, it might be wise to do as long as I do not make over something like $44,000 between January and May of 2018….is this true??
R.F.
Congratulations on planning your retirement! In 2017, the limit on the earnings of a person reaching their full retirement age is $44,880. Keep in mind, that the exempt amounts generally increase annually and the retirement earnings test applies only to people below their full retirement age. Please visit our Retirement Planner: Getting Benefits While Working for more information.
Rick B.
I need to cover the gap between my 65th birthday 7-30-53 and my first SS check Sept 26, 2018. Can I earn my normal wage the year I retire for August and September, or will I be penalized? My FRA is 66.
R.F.
Thank you for your question Rick. If you apply for benefits at age 65, and you continue to work , you will be considered “retired” in any month that your earn less than the allowable -monthly- amount for that year. For example in 2017, a person younger than full retirement age for the entire year is considered retired if monthly earnings are $1,410 or less. Also, if your earnings will be over the limit for the year but you will be retired for part of the year, we have a special rule that applies to earnings for one year. The special rule lets us pay a full Social Security check for any whole month we consider you retired, regardless of your yearly earnings. To learn more, please visit “How We Deduct Earnings From Benefits” or read our publication: “How Work Affects Your Benefits”. We hope this information helps. If you have additional questions, please call our toll free number at 1-800-772-1213, and speak with one of our agents. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Rick
Ray, my issue is I will have to go nearly 2 months without income. I can continue to work, but then loose 2 months anyway. It is a bad situation.
Greg
Concerning reduced benefits if you continue working while receiving early Social Security. Do these reduced benefits go away once you reach full retirement, or do they limit income or benefits for the life of Social Security? I was told that the only way you are able to make unrestricted income is to wait until full retirement age.
R.F.
Good questions Greg. If a person begins to receive benefits at age 62 or prior to their full retirement age, their benefits are reduced. The reduction factors are permanently applied to all of the benefits the person may qualify for. However, if you continue working while you receive Social Security retirement benefits, you could get a higher benefit in the future. We will check your record every year to see whether the additional earnings will increase your monthly benefit. In addition, after you reach your full retirement age, we will recalculate your benefit amount to give you credit for any months in which you did not receive a benefit because of your earnings. If you’re still working when you attain your full retirement age, the amount you make at work will not affect your Social Security benefits, no matter how much you earn. Please read our publication “How Work Affects Your Benefits” for more information. We hope this provides some clarity. Thanks!
Brenda
My husband is receiving SSDI $2100 monthly and hasn’t worked since year 2002. Will his benefit amount change at age 66 to a lower amount since SSA goes by the last will the $2100 monthly not change at age 66? Will the SSDI of $2100 roll over to SSA $2100 monthly?
R.F.
Hi Brenda. Social Security disability benefits automatically change to retirement benefits when disability beneficiaries attain their full retirement age. Benefits are not interrupted with this transition and the benefit amount will generally remain the same. Thanks!
J
Help every creature drink vegetable soup to live forever.
Help creature live forever Bible writing in the book Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.”.
Help may be creature drink from a paper cup fine warm strained vegetable soup.
May be creature at meal time on a bed with the back of the bed at a 45 degree angle
have sips from using a paper cup with thinking of giving space so not to drown drink sips of the vegetable soup.
After the meal the bed may be moved to horizontal. May be the creature may have 3 or more meals a day.
Vegetables for food.
Good that every creature will have good food, good drink, good comfort, good strength, and good freedom.
Creatures should try not to hurt every baby creature in the womb or egg shell or anywhere.
Not to kill every baby creature in the womb or egg shell or anywhere.
Creatures should try not to hurt every creature.
Not to kill every creature.
Vegetables for food.
Creatures should try to obey the ten commandments of God in the Bible in Exodus chapter 20.
Genesis 9:12-13, Deuteronomy 4:13, Deuteronomy chapter 5, Jeremiah 1:4-5,
Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapter 17, Genesis 25:34, Mark 14:23.
Exodus 20:
1And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents
to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God.
On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Vegetables for food. There are grass trees, bush trees, and big trees.
There has been trees, tree fruit, tree soup, tree cakes, tree pies, and tree breads. Water and tree fruit and trees for drink.
Vegetables are trees. Trees for food and trees for making some things (shoes, clothing, shelter, tools, changed into oil, gas, paint, tar ).
Rocks, dirt, trees, and water may be used to make some things (tools, car, shelter, roads).
Good that every creature will have good food, good drink, good comfort, good strength, and good freedom.
Not to cut, bruise, freeze hurt, or burn hurt the body skin, flesh, or bone.
Some body nail and some hair is for protection.
Not to molest every creature.
Not to do adultery, fornication, or homosexual.
I read not to do vaccination. I read that vaccination is bad. Not to do vaccination.
I read about not to use the bad substances called aspirin, antibiotics, and psychotropic substances.
Not to use aspirin.
Not to use antibiotics.
Not to use psychotropic substances.
Not to use guns.
Alesandra
I am 72 years old, I started working 5 years ago, I had been paying SS during 5 years. Can I apply for my retirement now and what % of my salary could I receive ?
R.F.
Thank you for your question Alesandra. Generally, you will need to have 40 “credits”, or 10 years of paying Social security taxes to qualify for any type of Social Security benefit. If you do not have enough credits to be eligible for Social Security benefits, you may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The SSI program pays benefits to people with limited income and resources, who are disabled, blind or age 65 or older. Please call our toll-free number 1-800-772-1213 for further assistance. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Generally you’ll have a shorter wait-time if you call later during the week. Or contact your local Social Security office directly.
Pepe D.
Hi,
Can I apply for early retirement at 62 and reapply at 67 for full benefits?
A.C.
Hi, Pepe. Thanks for your question. If you choose to get retirement benefits at age 62 or before your full retirement age, they will be reduced. These reduction factors are permanent. Unexpected changes may occur after you apply to start your Social Security retirement benefits. You could change your mind, and you may be able to withdraw your Social Security claim and re-apply at a future date. However, you must do this within 12 months of your original retirement date. See our Frequently Asked Questions web page for information on this topic.
Rene B.
I was born in 1955 and turn 62 on July 17th of this year. I want to retire and stop working in August. I understand that there is a limit on how much you can make in a year after which .50 is taken for every dollar over the limit. Do my wages from January of this year through August count towards that limit, or is it just wages earned from August through the end of the year?
R.F.
Hi Rene. In 2017, the annual earnings limit is for individuals under full retirement age is $16,920. If your earnings will be over the limit for the year but you will be retired for part of the year, we have a special rule that applies to earnings for that one year. We will not count your wages from January through August. Also, to clarify, if you work, and are younger than full retirement age, we must deduct $1 from your benefits for each $2 you earn above the yearly limit. Please visit our Retirement Planner: Getting Benefits While Working and read our publication How Works Affect Your Benefits for more information. Our system is set up to take applications three months in advance. When you are ready, you can complete the online application for your Social Security retirement benefits in as little as 15 minutes. Also, you can create a My Social Security account to review your earnings record and get an estimate of your future benefits. Happy planning, and congratulations on your retirement!
Maureen H.
I started collecting from my ex-husband’s last year on my 66th birthday. I still work and my annual income is $24k. Is my SS being reduced during this time? I ‘d like to work until 70 y/o, but not be penalized.
R.F.
Hi Maureen. Based on the information you provide, it seems that you started to collect benefits when you reached your full retirement age. (If You Were Born Between 1943 And 1954, your full retirement age is 66). Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, your earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn. Also, when you continue to work, there is a chance that your monthly benefit amount increases. Each year we review the records for all working Social Security recipients. If your earnings for the prior year are higher than one of the years we used to compute your retirement benefit, we will recalculate your benefit amount. Visit our Retirement Planner: “Getting Benefits While Working” for more information.
Andrew P.
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