Will you take Social Security in 2025? Better know your official full retirement age

A new year, a new number for Social Security and the benefit program’s full retirement age. Most people associate the age of 65 with retirement – although there’s data suggesting the average American retires at 62. That’s the age at which you can begin to take Social Security, but you can boost the size of your monthly benefits check if you wait longer. You can get the most Social Security benefits if you wait until your “full retirement age,” which used to be 65, but it’s gradually increased over the years – and it’s up to 67 years of age for those born in 1960 or later. This isn’t exactly news, because the “full retirement age” timetable for program was set in legislation passed in 1983 by Congress gradually raising the “full retirement age” by a few months every year – from 65 to 67. What’s made it important is that people who may be reaching retirement age need to keep the figure in mind as they consider joining the 68 million Americans currently getting benefits.. “There’s nothing that kicks in January 1. It’s more connected to when your birth is and therefore when your full retirement age is,” Joel Eskovitz, senior director for Social Security and savings at the AARP Public Policy Institute, told USA TODAY. “You get lower benefits if you claim before that retirement age. Every month early you claim, you get a reduction.”

When can I retire and get Social Security?

You can retire when is most prudent for you, but you cannot file for Social Security benefits until the age 62. At age 59½, you can begin withdrawing from tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs without the Internal Revenue Service exacting a 10% penalty tax . The longer you put off taking Social Security, the bigger your monthly check. That’s where “full retirement age” kicks in; it’s the age when you get what’s considered full Social Security benefits. But that age is dependent on when you were born. “You can start at 62, but you take a major cut relative to say, age 70, and then every year you delay is another 8% (increase) until you reach your maximum benefit,” Gal Wettstein, a senior research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, told USA TODAY. You could also begin claiming Social Security benefits before you officially retire, if you are 62 or older. However, if you earned more than $22,320 in 2024, withholding would have been taken from your Social Security payments. After you reach “full retirement age,” Social Security will recalculate your benefit amount and give you credit for any months you did not get a benefit because you were working. “Some people are surprised by that and … think that money is gone forever, which is not true,” Eskovitz said. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate Social Security benefit taxes on those whose incomes meet certain thresholds.