If you were born in 1960, there's a birthday math problem waiting for you that most people discover too late.
The age at which you can collect your full Social Security retirement benefit has now climbed to 67 for that entire birth year, and it stays there for anyone born in 1960 or later.
That's the final step in a slow-motion increase that started back in 1983, when Congress voted to nudge the full retirement age from 65 to 67.
Workers born in 1959 hit 66 and 10 months.
Anyone born in 1960 or after gets the full 67.
The change is now fully phased in, which means there's no more waiting for the rules to settle.
Age 67 is the number Social Security uses to calculate your "full" benefit, the amount you'd get by waiting.
Claim at 62, the earliest possible, and you're looking at roughly 30 percent less per month for the rest of your life.
The gap is bigger than most people expect.
Suppose your full benefit at 67 would be $2,000 a month.
Claim at 62, and that could drop to around $1,400.
That's $600 less every single month, or $7,200 a year, and the difference compounds over a retirement that could easily last 25 years.
Every year you wait past 67, up to age 70, your benefit grows by about 8 percent.
Waiting from 67 to 70 can boost a $2,000 check to roughly $2,480.
For married couples, the higher earner waiting longer can also lift the survivor benefit for a spouse.
Start by checking your actual numbers, not a guess.
Create or log into your my Social Security account at ssa.gov to see your personalized benefit estimates at 62, at your full retirement age, and at 70.
Then factor in your health, whether you're still working, and whether you have other income to bridge the gap.
One trap worth flagging: if you claim before your full retirement age and keep working, Social Security may temporarily withhold part of your benefit if you earn above a certain threshold.
Once you reach full retirement age, the earnings test disappears entirely.
You can sign up at 65 regardless of when you claim Social Security, so don't assume your health coverage and your retirement check have to start together.
The bottom line is that 67 is now the baseline, not the exception, for anyone born in 1960 or later.
Knowing your personal break-even point, the age where waiting pays off compared with claiming early, is the single most useful number you can calculate before you file.
Our take: the system rewards patience, but only if you can afford to be patient.
If you need the money at 62, take it without guilt.
Final Thoughts
If you can wait, the math usually tilts in your favor, and a few extra years of work can mean tens of thousands more over a retirement.