Social Security Retirement Age Change: What Is Law and What Is Not
Quick answer
No new increase is law. The 1983 amendments already raised full retirement age from 65 to 67 in stages, ending with everyone born in 1960 or later, and that phase-in is now complete. Proposals to lift the age to 69 or 70 exist in Congress, but none has been enacted. Benefits remain claimable from 62.
Social Security full retirement age by year of birth
| Year of birth | Full retirement age | Benefit if claimed at 62 (% of full) |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 or earlier | 65 | 80% |
| 1938 | 65 and 2 months | 79.2% |
| 1939 | 65 and 4 months | 78.3% |
| 1940 | 65 and 6 months | 77.5% |
| 1941 | 65 and 8 months | 76.7% |
| 1942 | 65 and 10 months | 75.8% |
| 1943-1954 | 66 | 75% |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months | 74.2% |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months | 73.3% |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months | 72.5% |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months | 71.7% |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months | 70.8% |
| 1960 and later | 67 | 70% |
The question behind every social security retirement age change search is the same: is the goalpost moving again? The answer splits cleanly into what is law and what is merely proposed. The law is the Social Security Amendments of 1983, signed on 20 April 1983, which raised the full retirement age from 65 to 67 in the birth-year steps shown in the table above. That schedule is now fully phased in: anyone born in 1960 or later has a full retirement age of 67, and the last cohort below 67 (born 1959, full retirement age 66 and 10 months) is reaching it now. Nothing in the table changes unless Congress passes a new law.
What is proposed is a different matter. The Republican Study Committee, the largest House Republican caucus, has proposed in its budget blueprints raising the full retirement age to 69, phased in at three months per year for workers reaching 62 from 2026 onward. The Congressional Budget Office separately scores an option raising it by two months per birth year for workers born 1964 to 1981, landing at 70 for everyone born in 1981 or later. Both are proposals, not law, and the CBO explicitly makes no recommendation. Worth knowing before anyone sells you either as painless: raising the retirement age is a benefit cut by another name. Moving the full retirement age from 67 to 70 works out to annual benefits roughly a fifth lower for workers born in the 1980s at any claiming age, and the CBO's published analysis of the milder age-69 version puts the cut at about 13% for the same cohorts claiming at 65.
The other engine of anxiety is the trust fund. The 2026 Trustees Report projects the retirement fund's reserves deplete in the fourth quarter of 2032, a quarter earlier than last year's estimate. Depletion does not mean checks stop. It means the fund can no longer top up the gap between payroll tax coming in and benefits going out, so continuing income would cover 78% of scheduled benefits (83% on a combined basis with the disability fund, which lasts until 2034). A cut of roughly a fifth is serious, but it is a funding-gap problem for Congress, not a zero.
If the age question is really a claiming question for you, the arithmetic of each starting age is in our companion guide to Social Security at 62 vs 67 vs 70. To see how your savings stack up against the households around you, there is average retirement savings for married couples by age, and the drawdown side of the sum is covered in the 4% rule. The rest of our US coverage lives at /us/articles.
Frequently asked questions
Are they going to change the age for Social Security?
No change beyond the current law is enacted. The full retirement age tops out at 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. Proposals exist, including a Republican Study Committee budget plan for age 69 and a Congressional Budget Office option scoring a rise to 70, but a proposal is not law until Congress passes it and the president signs it.
At what age can you collect 100% of your Social Security?
At your full retirement age: 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, and between 66 and 2 months and 66 and 10 months for birth years 1955 to 1959. Claiming earlier permanently reduces the check; waiting past full retirement age adds 8% per year up to age 70, where the benefit reaches 124% of the full amount.
Is Social Security raising the retirement age to 70?
No. Age 70 is simply where delayed retirement credits stop accruing under current law. A Congressional Budget Office deficit-reduction option would raise full retirement age to 70 for workers born in 1981 or later, but CBO options are costings, not legislation, and no such bill has been enacted.
What happens when the Social Security trust fund runs out?
Benefits do not stop. The 2026 Trustees Report projects the retirement (OASI) trust fund reserves deplete in the fourth quarter of 2032, after which incoming payroll tax still covers 78% of scheduled benefits. On a combined basis with the disability fund, reserves last until 2034 with 83% payable after that.
When was the Social Security retirement age 65?
For everyone born in 1937 or earlier. The Social Security Amendments of 1983 raised the age in two stages, starting with people born in 1938 and reaching 67 for those born in 1960 or later. That schedule has been on the books for over four decades and is now fully phased in.
Can I still take Social Security at 62?
Yes. Age 62 remains the earliest claiming age under current law, and none of the live proposals has changed that. For anyone born in 1960 or later, claiming at 62 pays 70% of the full benefit, permanently. A spousal benefit claimed at 62 falls to as little as 32.5% of the worker's full amount.
Sources
- SSA - Retirement age and benefit reduction (full birth-year table)
- SSA - Why did the full retirement age change?
- SSA history - Summary of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 (P.L. 98-21)
- SSA - Summary of the 2026 Trustees Report
- SSA Office of the Chief Actuary - Benefit as a percentage of PIA by claiming age
- CBO - Raise the Full Retirement Age for Social Security (budget option, December 2024)
- NBC News - House Republican budget calls for raising the retirement age
General information, not financial advice. Tax rules and figures can change; check the current position on irs.gov or ssa.gov before acting.