Full retirement age, the age at which you can claim 100% of your Social Security benefits, is scheduled to rise in 2025.
Beneficiaries can begin claiming Social Security benefits at age 62, but are only entitled to the full amount once they reach “full retirement age.” If you receive benefits before FRA, the amount will be reduced by a percentage, sometimes by as much as 30%, depending on how far you are from full retirement.
For example, someone born between 1943 and 1954 who retired at age 62, four years before the full retirement age of 66, would see their $1,000 benefit reduced to $750. People born after 1960 who retire at age 62, five years before FRA, will see their benefits reduced by $1,000 to $700 per month.
If you wait until FRA, you will be eligible for 100% of your benefits based on your lifetime earnings. However, under a law passed by Congress in 1983, the FRA, which was then 65 years old, changes by two months for each subsequent birth year, increasing the age each year.
Read more: Social Security Increase in 2025: When Will Beneficiaries Get a Raise? How Much Will It Be?
Here's how to do it AARP describes the process this way:
“FRA is 66 years and 8 months for people born in 1958 and 66 years and 10 months for people born in 1959.”
So your 2025 FRA will be between 66 years and 8 months to 66 years and 10 months.
can see Click here for a detailed chart of FRA.
The maximum amount of Social Security benefits that an FRA individual can claim will be $4,018 in 2025, up from $3,822 last year, after adjusting for inflation. Those who wait until age 70 can claim even more at up to $5,108 per month.
All Social Security recipients will receive cost-of-living adjustments this year. Next year's benefits are scheduled to increase by 2.5%. The COLA means the average beneficiary receiving $1,870 per month will see an increase of about $47 from their next payment.
