The United States Congress defines normal retirement age based on the year you were born. Your normal retirement age is a critical component of retirement planning because your Social Security retirement benefit is based on just two components:
- Your earnings history
- The age at which you collect your retirement benefit compared to your normal retirement age.
It’s important to understand you normal retirement age. Here’s a list of possible years you were born followed by your normal retirement age according to the Social Security Administration.
- 1937 or earlier: 65
- 1938: 65 and 2 months
- 1939: 65 and 4 months
- 1940: 65 and 6 months
- 1941: 65 and 8 months
- 1942: 65 and 10 months
- 1943—1954: 66
- 1955: 66 and 2 months
- 1956: 66 and 4 months
- 1957: 66 and 6 months
- 1958: 66 and 8 months
- 1959: 66 and 10 months
- 1960 or later: 67