The finish line for full Social Security benefits is moving again, and it is not stopping at 67.
Anyone born in 1960 or later already needs to wait until 67 for their full monthly check.
Under current law, that number stays put for everyone born through 1979.
Then it starts creeping up again, one year at a time.
People born from 1960 through 1979 reach full retirement age at 67.
For those born in 1980 or later, the age rises by two months for every year of birth.
A worker born in 1985 hits full retirement age at 67 and two months.
Someone born in 1990 waits until 67 and four months.
The climb continues until it reaches 70 for anyone born in 1995 or later.
Americans born before 1938 could collect full benefits at 65.
The 1983 amendments phased in the rise to 67 over more than two decades, and the next phase would push today's youngest workers even further out.
The catch is that you can still claim at 62, but the penalty is permanent.
Filing early permanently reduces your monthly benefit by as much as 30 percent compared with waiting until full retirement age.
On a $2,000 full benefit, that is $600 less every month for the rest of your life.
Over a 20-year retirement, the gap tops $140,000 before any cost-of-living adjustments.
Waiting past full retirement age helps too.
Benefits grow about 8 percent per year until age 70, then stop growing.
For a 1990 baby with a full retirement age of 67 and four months, delaying to 70 locks in a meaningful raise.
That tradeoff matters more as grocery bills, rent, and insurance premiums keep climbing.
The Social Security trust fund is projected to run short in the mid-2030s, and the program would then rely on incoming payroll taxes alone.
That could mean an across-the-board benefit cut of roughly 20 percent if Congress does nothing.
Lawmakers have floated fixes like raising the payroll tax cap, adjusting the formula, or yes, raising the retirement age again.
For anyone under 45, the smartest move is to plan as if the number will be higher than today's schedule.
Every year you delay is a guaranteed bump in a benefit that adjusts for inflation each January.
Log into your my Social Security account and check your earnings record for errors, since mistakes can shrink your check.
If you are married, run the numbers on spousal and survivor benefits before either of you files, because one spouse claiming early can drag down the survivor's payment for decades.
And if you have a 401(k) or IRA, use the years between 62 and 70 to let those accounts grow while your eventual benefit gets bigger.
None of this is a promise about what Congress will do.
It is simply the math of the current rules, and the rules are already tilted toward patience.
The retirement age debate is not some distant Washington argument.
It is a line item in your household budget, and for younger workers, the finish line keeps sliding.
Final Thoughts
Plan for a moving target, because that is the only version of this story that has held true for 40 years.