Glossary
FRA (Full Retirement Age)
The age at which you can claim your full Social Security retirement benefit, with no reduction for claiming early.
FRA stands for Full Retirement Age. It is the age at which Social Security will pay your full retirement benefit, with nothing taken off for starting early. Your full retirement age depends on the year you were born, and it is 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. You can start your retirement benefit as early as 62, but doing so permanently reduces the monthly amount, because the benefit is reduced a little for each month you claim before your full retirement age. Waiting past full retirement age works the other way: your monthly amount grows through delayed retirement credits until you reach 70, after which there is nothing further to gain by waiting. This matters to you because full retirement age is the hinge the whole claiming decision turns on, and it is not the same as the age you become eligible for Medicare, which is 65 regardless of the year you were born.