Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. For decades, the Social Security Administration has been gradually moving the target that many financial planners and seniors would consider the most important for their retirement: Full Retirement Age (FRA). Starting in November 2026, the FRA will reach 67 (1) for anyone born in 1960 or later — the culmination of a 43-year phase-in that began with Social Security reforms in 1983 (2).
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one JPMorgan still sees gold hitting $5,000/oz by Q4 — and savvy investors are protecting their wealth with a tax-advantaged Gold IRA. Learn more with a free guide from Priority Gold The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028 — and experts say most people won't act in time. What to do before the window closes The increase applies each November and this is the year it locks in permanently at 67 for good, according to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (3).
This may sound like a minor bureaucratic detail, but for anyone near this age who hasn't yet claimed benefits, the difference could be tangible. FRA is the age at which you can claim 100% of the Social Security benefit you're eligible for. Claiming earlier reduces the benefit, while delaying your claim can boost it.
This is why the timing of your claim is so important. Plenty of people still mentally default to 65 or 66 as "full retirement age" because that's what it was for their parents. If you claim at what you think is your FRA but it's actually 67, you'll lock in a reduced check for the rest of your life.
That's potentially decades of underpayment from a single miscalculation. To complicate things further, the SSA's rules include several quirks that can make it difficult to know your official FRA. "If you were born on the 1st of the month, we figure your benefit (and your full retirement age) as if your birthday was in the previous month," says the SSA's website (4).
"If you were born on January 1st, we figure your benefit (and your full retirement age) as if your birthday was in December of the previous year." Simply put, figuring out your FRA isn't as straightforward as knowing your birthday. With less than 90 days to go, now is the time to prepare. Read More: Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks.
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