Your retirement age depends on the year you were born. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the earliest you can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits is age 62. However, you are entitled to full benefits when you reach your full retirement age. If you delay taking your benefits from your full retirement age up to age 70, your benefit amount will increase. The full retirement age was 65 for most of Social Securitys history. However, in 1983, Congress passed a law to gradually raise the age because people are living longer and are generally healthier in older age. The law raised the full retirement age beginning with people born in 1938 or later. The retirement age gradually increases by a few months for every birth year, until it reaches 67 for people born in 1960 and later.

To find out your full retirement age, you can use the retirement age calculator provided by the SSA. Alternatively, you can use the retirement age chart provided by the SSA to find out how much your benefit will be reduced if you begin receiving benefits from age 62 up to your full retirement age.