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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Edith M.
How can i find the answer to will my disability increase when i turn 65 next year? I started drawing disability at age 60.
Dina D.
I need to know how I apply for my SSI retirement benefits on line?
R.F.
Great! We appreciate you doing business with us online, Dina. Social Security offers an online retirement application that you can complete in as little as 15 minutes. Click here to get started. Thanks!
Gary V.
I am trying top figure out an issue. My wife was on Disability for a long time (Spinal Chord injury) and her benefit switched to SS when she turned 65. She was 67 when she passed 01/04/18. They gave me survivors benefits for her SS after her passing.
I turned 65 at the end of September. I am confused, because my monthly benefit has gone down from the estimated monthly benefit by SS in previous correspondence.
Am I only entitled to the survivors benefits based on my deceased wife’s benefits and not benefits or my own earnings?
I have asked for a explanation in the appeal but it has not been explained.
I really do not understand.
Frances A.
I was under the impression that when I turned full retirement age at 66 (October 17, 2018) then I would be able to draw upon my husbands benefits. Presently I have been drawing on my mine and my husbands since age 63 and I was all I could do at the time if I chose early retirement. Will I ever be able to draw half of what is his benefits?
R.F.
Hello Frances, your benefit as a spouse can -ONLY- be equal to one-half of your ex-spouse’s full retirement amount -ONLY- if you start receiving benefits at your full retirement age (currently age 66).
Also, 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. See more in “Benefits For Your Spouse“. Thanks!
Rita M.
I am 64 . My doctor is retiring & I’m having a hard time getting a new doctor. I don’t like having to give them the paper you send because it is so hard to get them to fill it out. I have been on disability for years. I would like to go to Social Security. Can this be changed. If so how can I do this. Will it change anything? I understand I want get any more money. I would rather be on SS than Disability. Thank you.
R.F.
Hello Rita. Please call our toll free number at 1-800-772-1213 for assistance. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Generally, you will have a shorter wait time if you call later during the day or later in the week. Thanks!
Butch D.
the answers as to when and how much a person will receive are vague. I simply wanted to know when I could apply to receive full social security benefits. The month I turn 66 (born in 1953)? The month after? Two months before?
R.F.
Thank you for your question, Butch. Our system is set up to take applications four months in advance. Remember that benefits are paid the month after they are due. So, for instance, if you want your benefits to begin with the month of April, you will receive your first benefit payment in May.
If you were born January 2, 1943, through January 1, 1955, then your full retirement age for (full) retirement insurance benefits is 66. The earliest a person can start receiving reduced retirement benefits continues to be age 62.
We encourage to create your personal my Social Security account, review your earnings record and get estimates of your future benefits. Also, we have a variety of calculators to help you plan for the future. Which calculator you choose depends on what you want to do. Then, our Retirement Estimator can provide estimates of monthly Social Security benefits based on your actual Social Security earnings record.
Please visit our Social Security Retirement Planner for more information. We hope this helps!
Monica S.
If receiving benefits at 62 will it increase at 65 or stay the same?
Wayne M.
I am currently receiving husbands benefits and will soon be turning 70, so I will want to change to receiving my full benefit. What do I need to do in order to make that change?
Maureen B.
At age 65 how much can I make a year working?
A.C.
Hi, Maureen. If you’re younger than full retirement age, there is a limit to how much you can earn and still receive full Social Security benefits. If you’re younger
than full retirement age during all of 2018, we must deduct $1 from your benefits for each $2 you earn above $17,040. For more information about how work affects your Social Security payments, check out our publication, How Work Affects Your Benefits. We hope this helps.
Annie H.
I have just received phone call that it is social security, that I will not receive my social benefits anymore on Saturday. I currently do not receive social security disability benefits. But I receive SSI monthly at first on every month. I don’t understand how they are calling Saturday. And what have I done in order to disqualified SSI? I have any other sources of income anywhere. And I have been brain injury so Any one will be hiring me?! The phone number I have gotten phone calls from is 202-697-6317
Phil C.
I am not a representative of the SS or any government agency. I’m just a citizen. Be careful with calls like this. It could be valid, but most likely it isn’t. Don’t give any personal information over the phone or on line just because someone contacts you saying they are the SSA are here to help you. SSA doesn’t work that way. Your best bet is to call the SSA direct using phone numbers found on the SSA.GOV web site. Phil Culver
R.F.
Thank you for your comment, Phil.
Just a quick reminder — If a person receives a suspicious call from someone alleging to be from SSA, citizens may report that information to the OIG at 1-800-269-0271 or online via https://oig.ssa.gov/report.