If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is now 67.
That's the age at which you qualify for your complete Social Security benefit, with no reduction for claiming early.
It used to be 65 for anyone born before 1938.
The slow creep upward was written into law back in 1983, and we've finally reached the top of the staircase.
But claiming at 62 when your full retirement age is 67 permanently cuts your monthly check by 30 percent.
On a $2,000 full benefit, that's $600 gone every month for the rest of your life.
Each year you delay up to age 70 adds roughly 8 percent to your benefit.
Going from 67 to 70 is a 24 percent bump.
That's one of the few genuinely guaranteed increases available to anyone nearing retirement.
The math isn't the same for everybody, though.
If you have health problems or a physically demanding job, filing early can be the practical call.
If you're still working and earning decent money, claiming before 67 can also trigger taxes on your benefits and a temporary earnings penalty.
The Social Security Administration withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above a certain threshold before your full retirement age.
The lower earner often files early while the higher earner waits, which can protect the bigger benefit for the surviving spouse.
Survivor benefits can be worth more than anything else in the household budget, so it's worth running the numbers before either spouse files.
A few free tools make this less abstract.
Your my Social Security account shows your actual estimated benefit at 62, 67, and 70 based on your real earnings record.
The SSA's calculators let you plug in different claiming dates side by side.
A one-hour session with a fee-only advisor or a free session through a local senior center can pay for itself many times over.
One more thing worth knowing: Medicare starts at 65 regardless of your Social Security claiming age.
If you're covered through an employer at that point, you may be able to delay Part B.
Miss the enrollment window without qualifying coverage and you can face lifetime premium penalties.
That rule has nothing to do with retirement age, and it catches people off guard every year.
The bottom line is that 67 is a default, not a deadline.
Nothing forces you to file at any particular age.
What matters is knowing your own number, your health, your spouse's situation, and your cash needs before you click submit.
My take: the retirement age debate gets framed as a political fight, but for most households it's really a personal spreadsheet problem.
Spend an afternoon with your actual numbers instead of the scary headlines.
Final Thoughts
The decision is yours to make, and you only get to make it once.