Your "full retirement age" is not the day you are supposed to claim Social Security. It is the line every claiming decision is measured from. Claim before it, as early as 62, and your check shrinks for life. Wait past it, up to 70, and it grows about 8% a year. For someone with a full retirement age of 67, that is 70% at 62 versus 124% at 70, same work history, a check nearly three-quarters bigger just from timing. Here is the honest version: find your line first, because every good decision starts there.
The mental model: your 100% line
Full retirement age (FRA), sometimes called "normal" retirement age, is the age at which you receive 100% of your earned benefit, your Primary Insurance Amount, or PIA. Everything else is a discount or a bonus measured from that line. Claim before your FRA and you accept a permanent discount. Delay past it and you earn a permanent bonus. So the first job is not "when should I claim," it is "where is my line."
Find your FRA by birth year
FRA is 66 for people born 1943 through 1954. Then it climbs a staircase: 66 and 2 months for 1955, 66 and 4 months for 1956, 66 and 6 months for 1957, 66 and 8 months for 1958, and 66 and 10 months for 1959. For anyone born in 1960 or later, it is 67. One quirk: SSA counts someone born on January 1 under the previous year's rule. If you are not sure, a free my Social Security account at ssa.gov shows your exact FRA.
Claim at 62: a permanent 30% cut
The earliest you can claim retirement benefits is 62, and it comes at a real cost. The reduction is 5/9 of 1% per month for each of the first 36 months before FRA, then 5/12 of 1% per month for any month beyond that. For an FRA of 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early: 36 months at 5/9% plus 24 months at 5/12% equals 20% plus 10%, a 30% reduction, so 70% of your full benefit. Claim at 65 and it is about a 13.3% cut (roughly 86.7%); claim at 66 and it is about 6.7% (roughly 93.3%). For an FRA of 66, claiming at 62 is a 25% cut, so 75%.
Why the reduction is permanent
This is the part that surprises people: the early-claim reduction does not reset at your FRA. If you lock in 70% at 62, that is your base for life, adjusted only by cost-of-living increases. There is one narrow thing people confuse with a reset: the earnings test can temporarily withhold checks before FRA, and those withheld months are credited back at FRA. That is not the early-claim reduction reversing. Keep the two separate.
Delay past FRA: delayed retirement credits up to 124%
Wait past your full retirement age and every month adds 2/3 of 1%, which works out to 8% per year, all the way to age 70. There is no credit for waiting beyond 70. For an FRA of 67, waiting to 70 adds three years at 8%, a +24% bonus, so 124% of your full benefit. For an FRA of 66, waiting to 70 is four years, +32%, so 132%. That is why the full spread for an FRA of 67 runs from 70% at 62 to 124% at 70: FRA is the center line every decision swings around.
The earnings test that turns off at FRA
Before your FRA, if you keep working and earn above the SSA annual limit, part of your benefit is temporarily withheld. From the month you reach full retirement age, that limit disappears entirely: no earnings test, no withholding, you can earn any amount. And the months that were withheld before FRA are credited back to you at FRA in the form of a higher check. The dollar limit changes each year, so check the current figure at ssa.gov rather than trusting an old number.
The tax myth at full retirement age
A common belief is that Social Security stops being taxed once you reach FRA. It does not. Whether your benefits are taxable depends on your combined income, not your age. Reaching full retirement age changes your earnings test and your benefit percentage, but it does not switch off taxation of benefits.
Can you undo or pause a claim?
Two real SSA mechanisms exist, and they are narrow. Withdrawal of application: within 12 months of starting benefits you can withdraw (Form SSA-521), but you must repay everything received (yours and anyone collecting on your record), it resets you as if you never claimed, and it is allowed once per lifetime. Voluntary suspension: at or after FRA, up to age 70, you can ask SSA to suspend payments, and those suspended months then earn delayed retirement credits, permanently raising the benefit when you restart. So an early claim is not always locked in if caught fast or partly repaired at FRA.
Waiting is not free: the break-even
Delaying gives a bigger check, but you give up checks in the meantime, so there is a crossover point. The break-even between claiming early and waiting typically lands in the late 70s to low 80s. This is a general pattern, not a promise: your own break-even depends on your numbers. If you live well past it, waiting wins; if you do not, claiming earlier may have been right.
Who should claim early vs wait
FRA is a reference point, not "the right age to claim." The right age depends on health, longevity, whether you are still working, cash needs, and survivor protection for couples. Someone in poor health with no family longevity may do best claiming early. Someone healthy with long-lived parents often does best waiting. Same rules, different right answers.
Why couples must decide together
The FRA decision does not end with you. When one spouse dies, the survivor generally receives the higher of the two benefits, not both. If the higher earner claimed early, that reduced amount can become the survivor's benefit for the rest of their life, so the early-claim decision of the higher earner outlives them. A survivor can claim survivor benefits as early as 60, at a reduced rate, and that is separate from their own retirement benefit. Full survivor rules are their own topic, but the link is why couples should plan the timing together.
Clear the noise: this is planning, not a rule
None of this is a trick. It is how the reduction, the delayed credits, and the earnings test interact around one line. The moves are real but personal: find your own FRA and your own estimates first. Open a free my Social Security account at ssa.gov, which shows your FRA plus your estimate at 62, at FRA, and at 70, then talk to a professional about your numbers.
Free 1-page worksheet
Find your full retirement age by birth year, the benefit percentage at 62 through 70, and the survivor move for couples, all on one page.
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Two pieces that build on this one: when to claim Social Security (62 vs 67 vs 70), the real math and the widow's penalty, why taxes jump when a spouse dies, which is where the higher earner's early-claim decision comes back around.
Sources
• SSA: Full retirement age by birth year
• SSA: Starting benefits before FRA (the early-claim reduction)
• SSA: Delayed retirement credits (8% per year to 124%)
• SSA: Retirement earnings test (works before FRA only)
• SSA: Withdraw an application (12-month reset, Form SSA-521)
• SSA: Survivors benefits
Common questions
What is my full retirement age?
Full retirement age (FRA) is the age you receive 100% of your earned benefit, your Primary Insurance Amount. It is 66 for people born 1943 to 1954, then climbs on a staircase (66 and 2 months for 1955, up to 66 and 10 months for 1959), and is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
How much is Social Security cut if I claim at 62?
For someone with an FRA of 67, claiming at 62 is 60 months early and cuts the benefit about 30%, so you receive roughly 70% of your full benefit. The reduction is 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months early, then 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that. For an FRA of 66, claiming at 62 is a 25% cut.
Does waiting past full retirement age increase my benefit?
Yes. Each month you delay past FRA adds delayed retirement credits of 2/3 of 1%, which is 8% per year, up to age 70. For an FRA of 67, waiting to 70 adds 24%, so you receive 124% of your full benefit. There is no additional credit after age 70.
Does the earnings test stop at full retirement age?
Yes. Before FRA, if you work and earn above the SSA annual limit, part of your benefit is temporarily withheld. From the month you reach FRA there is no earnings limit at all, so you can earn any amount with no withholding. The withheld months before FRA are credited back to you at FRA.
Is Social Security no longer taxed once I reach full retirement age?
No, that is a myth. Whether your benefits are taxed depends on your combined income, not your age. Reaching full retirement age does not stop your Social Security from being taxable.
Can I undo claiming Social Security too early?
There are two real SSA tools. Within 12 months of starting benefits you can withdraw your application (Form SSA-521), repay everything received, and reset as if you never claimed, allowed once per lifetime. Separately, at or after FRA up to age 70 you can voluntarily suspend payments, and the suspended months earn delayed retirement credits that permanently raise the benefit.