If you are wondering whether 2026 is the year you will finally be able to claim your full Social Security benefits, the answer depends entirely on your year of birth. Beginning in 2026, the Social Security Administration will complete its decades-long adjustment to the full retirement age (FRA).
That means if you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. This is the first year that age 67 becomes the official FRA for anyone hitting retirement. In other words, if you turn 67 in 2026, you will be eligible to claim 100% of your Social Security retirement benefits.
What is full retirement age (FRA) for Social Security
Your full retirement age (FRA) is the age at which you can collect your full, unreduced Social Security retirement benefit. Before Congress changed the law in 1983, the FRA was 65 for everyone. Since then, the age has been gradually increasing to account for longer life expectancy and financial pressure on the Social Security program.
Here is a quick breakdown so you can see where you fall:
- Born in 1958 – FRA was 66 and 6 months (reached in 2024)
- Born in 1959 – FRA is 66 and 10 months (reached in 2025)
- Born in 1960 or later—FRA is 67 (first reached in 2026)
So if your birth year is 1960, you are the first group required to wait until age 67 to claim 100% of your benefit.
How your Social Security benefit changes if you claim early
You can start claiming Social Security as early as age 62, but doing so means your monthly benefit will be permanently reduced. The reduction is based on how many months you claim before your FRA.
- For the first 36 months before FRA, benefits are reduced by 5/9 of 1% per month
- After 36 months, benefits are reduced by 5/12 of 1% per month
For example, if your FRA is 67 and you start claiming at 62, your monthly check will be reduced by about 30%. That is a big difference over the course of retirement.
This is why it is so important to know exactly when your FRA hits. If you want to avoid losing part of your benefit, you will need to wait until 67.
Can you get more than 100% of your benefit
Yes. If you decide not to claim Social Security at your FRA and instead delay benefits, you will actually increase your monthly payment. For every month you wait after your FRA, you earn delayed retirement credits.
- Benefits increase by 2/3 of 1% for each month delayed
- That adds up to 8% per year
- You can keep delaying until age 70, when credits stop adding
So if you were born in 1960 and you wait until age 70 to start claiming, your benefit will be about 24% higher than if you claimed at 67.
Why 1960 is such an important year for Social Security
The reason 1960 is a milestone year is because it marks the completion of the phased increase in FRA that started with people born in 1938. For every birth year after that, FRA gradually crept upward, but 1960 is where the change levels off at 67.
This means:
- If you were born before 1960, your FRA is somewhere between 65 and 66 years, 10 months
- If you were born in 1960 or later, your FRA is 67 and will not go higher under current law
So in 2026, people born in 1960 will officially be the first to retire at the new FRA of 67.
Should you wait until FRA or claim early
The right choice depends on your personal situation. If you need the income earlier, claiming at 62 may make sense even with the reduced benefit. On the other hand, if you are healthy and expect to live longer, waiting until FRA or even delaying until 70 can give you more security later in life.
Think about:
- Your health and life expectancy
- Your financial needs in your 60s
- Whether you plan to keep working
- The size of your spouse’s or survivor’s benefit
The bottom line is this: if you were born in 1960, 2026 is the year you can retire with your full Social Security benefit at age 67.
