{"id":41586,"date":"2025-07-28T02:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T02:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/41586\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T02:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T02:43:13","slug":"social-security-retirement-age-is-no-longer-65-what-to-know-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/41586\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Security retirement age is no longer 65: What to know now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Social<\/p>\n

Retirement in America just got more complicated. The Social Security Administration<\/a> has implemented another shift in the full retirement age (FRA)<\/a>\u2014a move that affects millions of older Americans counting on benefits as a primary income source. While many still assume they can retire at 65, that\u2019s no longer the case for most.<\/p>\n

Why the retirement age is changing<\/p>\n

The retirement age for Social Security has been gradually increasing since 1983, when Congress passed reforms to extend the program\u2019s solvency. In 2025, the SSA formalized these changes further, moving the FRA beyond 65 for many future retirees:<\/p>\n

Born in 1959: FRA is 66 years and 10 monthsBorn in 1960 or later: FRA is 67 years<\/p>\n

This means claiming benefits at 65 will now come with a permanent monthly reduction, unless you wait until your designated FRA or beyond.<\/p>\n

Why this matters to your benefits<\/p>\n

Understanding your FRA is essential because it directly impacts the monthly benefit amount you\u2019ll receive for life. You can begin claiming Social Security at age 62, but your monthly check will be permanently reduced\u2014by up to 30% compared to waiting until FRA. On the flip side, delaying benefits until age 70 could increase monthly payouts by 24\u201332%, according to SSA data.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it breaks down:Age 62: Lowest monthly benefitFRA (66\u201367): Full benefitAge 70: Maximum monthly benefit<\/p>\n

This makes strategic timing critical, especially with inflation and cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) expected to remain modest.<\/p>\n

COLAs aren\u2019t enough to close the gap<\/p>\n

While COLAs help preserve retirees\u2019 purchasing power, they don\u2019t offset early-claiming penalties. The 2025 COLA was 2.5%, and early projections for 2026 suggest a 2.6% increase. These raises may feel underwhelming in light of increasing healthcare, housing, and food costs for older people.<\/p>\n

Why the SSA made this move<\/p>\n

The SSA cites increased life expectancy and long-term funding challenges as primary reasons for adjusting the retirement age. Today, people live far longer into retirement than they did in 1935 when the program was created\u2014necessitating updated funding strategies.<\/p>\n

Still, the decision has sparked debate. In a recent SCL survey<\/a>, only 18% of older Americans supported raising the retirement age to 70. Many fear such changes are de facto benefit cuts, especially for those in physically demanding jobs or with lower life expectancy.<\/p>\n

What retirees should do now<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re nearing retirement, now is the time to:<\/p>\n

Check your FRA using the SSA.gov retirement calculator<\/a>Review all income sources to optimize claiming ageDelay benefits if possible to boost long-term monthly incomeConsult a financial advisor about balancing Social Security with tax strategies and inflation<\/p>\n

Get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox each morning.\u00a0Sign up for our Morning Edition to start your day<\/a>. FL1 on the Go! Download the free FingerLakes1.com App for iOS (iPhone, iPad)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com\/fl1<\/a> or learn how you send us your local content here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Retirement in America just got more complicated. The Social Security Administration has implemented another shift in the full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530,1666,733,4783],"class_list":{"0":"post-41586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-personal-finance","10":"tag-personalfinance","11":"tag-retirement","12":"tag-social-security","13":"tag-ymyl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}