If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67.
That single number quietly reshapes millions of retirement plans, and most workers still guess wrong when asked.
The gap between what people assume and what the law actually says can cost thousands in reduced checks.
Here is the part that catches people off guard.
You can still claim at 62, but doing so permanently cuts your benefit.
Claiming at 62 instead of 67 trims your monthly check by roughly 30 percent for the rest of your life.
Wait until 70, and you collect delayed credits that push the amount well above your full retirement figure.
Those percentages compound over decades of retirement.
A worker who would receive $2,000 at 67 might see about $1,400 at 62 or close to $2,480 at 70.
Break-even math usually lands in the late 70s or early 80s, so health and family history matter as much as the spreadsheet.
The rules shifted over time, which is why your parents and your neighbors may be working from different numbers.
Anyone born before 1960 has a full retirement age somewhere between 66 and 67, phased in by birth year.
The steady climb was part of a 1983 law meant to shore up the program's finances as lifespans lengthened.
Meanwhile, the money behind the checks is under strain.
Trustees have projected that the combined trust funds could run short in the mid-2030s without changes, which would trigger an automatic benefit cut if lawmakers do nothing.
That deadline has moved before and could move again, but the direction of the pressure is not in doubt.
Cost-of-living adjustments are the other moving piece.
Benefits rise most years with inflation, which helps, but Medicare premiums are often deducted straight from that check.
A bigger gross payment does not always mean a bigger deposit.
For anyone planning, the practical move is to pull your actual statement from the Social Security Administration website rather than guessing.
It shows your earnings record and your projected benefit at 62, at full retirement age, and at 70.
Errors in that record are common and fixable, but only if you catch them early.
If you have a pension, a 401(k), or a spouse with a higher benefit, the timing question changes completely.
Married couples can often coordinate claims so the higher earner delays and the lower earner claims earlier, which protects the survivor's income later.
Claim before full retirement age while still working, and part of your benefit may be temporarily withheld if you earn above the annual limit.
That money is not lost forever, but it surprises people who claim early and keep a paycheck.
Our take: the retirement age is not a single cliff, it is a dial, and most people never realize they control it.
Treat 62 and 70 as the real endpoints, not 67.
Final Thoughts
Check your statement this week, because the decision gets made for you the moment you file.