What is my full retirement age for SS benefits with April 1957 birthday?
I've been trying to log into my Social Security account for DAYS but keep getting locked out. I can't remember if I've set up an account before or what email I used. Anyway, I was born in April 1957 and just want to know my full retirement age for planning purposes. I'm getting conflicting info from friends - one says 66 and another says 66 and some months. Can someone please tell me the exact age? I don't want to file too early and lose benefits. Thanks!
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QuantumQuest
For someone born in April 1957, your Full Retirement Age (FRA) is 66 years and 6 months. This is when you can receive 100% of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). If you claim before reaching your FRA, your benefit will be permanently reduced. If you wait until after your FRA, you'll earn Delayed Retirement Credits of 8% per year until age 70.
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Zainab Khalil
•Thank you so much! That's exactly what I needed to know. Do you happen to know what percentage reduction I'd face if I filed at 65? My health isn't great and I'm considering earlier options.
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Connor Murphy
FRA for 1957 is 66 and 6 months. My husband was born same year.
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Yara Haddad
•Not all 1957 is the same! It depends on WHICH MONTH in 1957!!! Jan-June is one thing, July-Dec is another. The SSA website explains this but no one reads carefully!!
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Keisha Robinson
i had same problem with the website, kept saying my info was wrong. turns out they had my birthday wrong by one day in their system. had to go to the office to fix it. what a nightmare.
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Zainab Khalil
•Oh no, that's concerning. I hope that's not my issue too. The nearest office is 45 minutes away and I heard they're appointment-only now.
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Paolo Conti
I was locked out of my SS account too! After trying to call for days and never getting through, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. I managed to reset my account access AND confirm my retirement age information in one call. Saved me so much frustration!
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Amina Sow
•Does that actually work? I've been trying to call about my husband's survivor benefits for 2 weeks! Might try this tomorrow.
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Paolo Conti
•Yes, it really worked for me! The agent I spoke with was able to answer all my questions about retirement age and benefits calculation too. Much better than trying to figure it out alone.
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GalaxyGazer
For those who are curious about the exact breakdown of Full Retirement Age by birth year: 1955: 66 years, 2 months 1956: 66 years, 4 months 1957: 66 years, 6 months 1958: 66 years, 8 months 1959: 66 years, 10 months 1960 and later: 67 years And regarding the reduction for claiming early at age 65 that the original poster asked about: For someone with an FRA of 66 years and 6 months, claiming at exactly 65 would result in approximately a 9.2% permanent reduction in benefits (about 0.56% per month early).
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Zainab Khalil
•This is incredibly helpful, thank you! So at 65 I'd lose around 9.2% forever - that's significant but maybe worth it depending on my health situation. I appreciate the detailed breakdown.
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Yara Haddad
The SSA website is TERRIBLE!! I've been locked out 3 times this year alone. They make it so hard for seniors to access our OWN information! And then they wonder why their phone lines are jammed!!! Maybe if their website actually WORKED people wouldn't need to call so much!!! My daughter had to help me set up a new account and I STILL can't access my statements half the time.
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Amina Sow
•Ikr? My mom can never get in either and she's not even that bad with computers. They should make it easier for us
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Connor Murphy
•This is why I just go to the local office. The people there are actually helpful in person.
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QuantumQuest
One additional point regarding your question about claiming at 65 - remember that your Medicare enrollment starts at 65 regardless of your Social Security Full Retirement Age. So even if you delay Social Security benefits, you should still sign up for Medicare during your Initial Enrollment Period (which begins 3 months before your 65th birthday). Missing this window can result in permanent premium penalties. This is a common source of confusion since the Full Retirement Age for Social Security and Medicare eligibility age are different.
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Zainab Khalil
•Oh! I completely forgot that Medicare starts at 65 regardless. Thank you for reminding me. I'll make sure to sign up for that at the right time even if I decide to wait on Social Security.
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