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When you collect Social Security, you’re entitled to a standard benefit. This amount is called your primary insurance amount (PIA) and it’s calculated based on a percentage of average monthly earnings (AIME) during your 35 highest working years.
You get this standard benefit if you claim your first Social Security check when you reach full retirement age (FRA). Although you become eligible to start benefits at 62, FRA is a few years after that. Traditionally, FRA was 65, but that hasn’t been the case for a while.
So, if you’re turning 66 this year, have you waited long enough?
This is your full retirement age if you turn 66 in 2026
Full retirement age has gradually been moving later as a result of 1983 Social Security reforms passed by Congress to stabilize the finances of the benefits program. While FRA started at 65, it did move to 66 thanks to those reforms — but only for people born between the ages of 1943 and 1954. For anyone born after that, FRA has gradually been moving back by two months each year.
If you are turning 66 in 2026, you were born in 1960. For anyone born in that year, full retirement age is is 67 years old. In 2025, those turning 66 could receive full retirement at 66 years and 10 months.
This means that if you turn 66 this year, you have to wait till your birthday to start your first Social Security payment if you want your standard benefit. For most people, that’s actually going to mean delaying a benefits claim into 2027 unless you want to shrink your monthly payments.
What happens if you claim before 67?
While it’s disappointing to find out you may need to delay your benefits claim longer than planned, it’s also important to understand the impact of an early claim so you don’t make a choice you end up regretting.
When you file for benefits ahead of your full retirement age, you’re hit with an early filing penalty. Those penalties apply for each month you’re early. For each of the first 36 months you’ve claimed benefits before FRA, you lose 5/9 of 1% of your benefits and for any prior month before that, you lose 5/12 of 1%.
Early filing penalties are permanent and it’s very hard to undo an early claim, with few options available unless you rescind your claim within 12 months and pay back all the benefits received to date.
You don’t want to make the wrong choice and cost yourself over $1,000 a year just because you don’t understand Social Security’s rules. So, if you are turning 66 this year, be sure you know exactly when your FRA is will be your birthday in 2027.
Wait until then to claim your benefit if you can — or consider waiting even longer to boost your income with delayed retirement credits if possible. The extra money Social Security offers will come in handy throughout your retirement, and you may be very glad you delayed for just a little longer before your first check comes.