What is the retirement age for Social Security? Ages by birth year

Short answer: In the Social Security Act the full retirement age is 67 for anyone who reaches age 62 after 2021, which means born in 1960 or later ^[1][2]. It was 65 for people who reached 62 before 2000 and rose in steps for those in between ^[1]. The early retirement age for your own old-age benefit is 62 ^[1].

Full retirement age by birth year

The law ties the age to the calendar year in which you reach 62, and Social Security counts you as reaching an age on the day before your birthday ^[2]. The birth years below follow from those dates, so someone born on 1 January belongs to the previous year's group.

• Born 1937 or earlier: 65 ^[1].
• Born 1938 to 1942: 65 plus 2 months for each year after 1937, from 65 and 2 months to 65 and 10 months ^[1].
• Born 1943 to 1954: 66 ^[1].
• Born 1955 to 1959: 66 plus 2 months for each year after 1954, from 66 and 2 months to 66 and 10 months ^[1].
• Born 1960 or later: 67 ^[1].

Early retirement

The early retirement age is 62 for an old-age, wife's or husband's insurance benefit and 60 for a widow's or widower's insurance benefit ^[1].

Planning your savings for the age you choose

These are PROJECTIONS, not financial advice and not a promise. Return, inflation, tax, plan fees and contribution caps are values YOU enter; real markets do not move at a fixed rate. Talk to a licensed adviser before acting on a number here.

Retirement Planner — Scenarios — What will I actually have at 65? Compare the scenarios side by side.

• Enter your age, your savings so far and what you add each month
• Set the investment return rate and the inflation rate separately — the result is shown in today's money
• Note where and when you read each rate; that source is printed on every report
• Tax-deferred (IRA, 401(k)) and tax-free (Roth) parts, taxed separately
• Post-retirement income: Social Security or a state pension and a workplace pension, each from its own age
• US required minimum distributions (IRS Uniform Lifetime Table) and the early-withdrawal penalty
• Plan check: enter your monthly spending and the age your money must last to, and see the savings you need, the monthly saving that reaches them, the shortfall and the earliest age you could retire
• The age your savings last to, on a lifetime chart from today through retirement; tap the curve to read any year
• A separate return for the retirement years, spending that steps down once you retire, one-off sums such as an inheritance, and a market fall at an age you choose
• Every retirement year: withdrawal, Social Security and pensions against your spending, and a pie chart of any year
• “Save a little more”: what an extra amount each month adds by retirement and to your monthly income
• Tools in the order you choose: Social Security claiming ages compared from the amounts on your statement, Traditional vs Roth, college savings and asset allocation
• Chance of success: type how much your yearly return can swing and the plan runs 500 times, showing how often the money lasts to your plan age and bad, typical and good-case balances; the same inputs give the same answer on every phone
• Couple or household plan: pick a saved scenario for each person and see both lined up by calendar year, with savings, income and spending together, the year both are retired and the first year either plan falls short
• Financial statements for every year: the cash flow of your savings, an income statement for each retirement year and a balance sheet with the tax still due on tax-deferred money, in today's money or the money of that year, and as a CSV
• Goal progress: update your balance from your statements and see how far you are toward the savings the plan needs, today and projected at retirement, with a history of your updates
• What your numbers say: the age your savings last to, the gap, the monthly saving that closes it, what a fee costs and where your employer match stops — calculations, not advice
• What-if sliders for retirement age, monthly saving and return; your plan changes only when you tap Apply
• An optional five-step guided setup; the quick form stays as it is
• Tap the info button beside a rate to see what it means; short Learn pages explain the terms
• Share a text summary by email or message, or save a one-scenario PDF plan or a year-by-year CSV
• Lock the app with your phone's own screen lock
• A live countdown to your retirement date, to the second
• A retirement bucket list with costs and target ages
• Save named scenarios (“Retire at 65”) and see the difference, not a single figure
• Pick your own currency; nothing assumes dollars
• Export the comparison as a PDF for your own file or your adviser

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Sources

1. 42 U.S. Code § 416 — Additional definitions, (l) Retirement age (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School) — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/416 (accessed 2026-10-22)
2. 20 CFR 404.102 — Definitions (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-20/chapter-III/part-404/subpart-A/section-404.102 (accessed 2026-10-22)

Retirement Planner — Scenarios is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any institution, authority, brand or company mentioned in it.