Claiming Social Security: Retirement Ages and Benefits

Workers earn credits by paying Social Security taxes and need 40 credits, about 10 years of work, to qualify for retirement benefits. The benefit is based on the 35 highest years of earnings, adjusted for wage growth, run through a formula that replaces a higher share of income for lower earners. The full retirement age, when a worker gets the full amount, is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later, under the 1983 amendments.

Workers can claim as early as 62, but the monthly check is cut permanently, by up to 30 percent. For each year they wait past full retirement age, up to 70, the check grows by 8 percent. People who claim early and keep working may have benefits temporarily withheld if they earn more than a limit, 24,480 dollars in 2026 and 25,560 dollars in 2027. The average retired worker received about 2,095 dollars a month in 2026.

Spouses can receive up to half of a worker's full benefit, divorced spouses qualify if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, and widows and widowers can receive up to the full amount the worker was receiving. Up to 85 percent of benefits can be subject to federal income tax for people with higher incomes, and a 2025 law added a temporary extra deduction of 6,000 dollars for people 65 and older through 2028. Proposals to raise the full retirement age further, or to make the formula more generous to low earners, recur in reform debates.