Social Security's retirement age labels could change soon — will the new names help you get a bigger monthly benefit?

A new bipartisan bill is heading to the President’s desk. It could make it easier for you to get more money in retirement, but some worry it isn’t enough to solve bigger problems with Social Security.

The Claiming Age Clarity Act, introduced in 2025, passed a Senate vote on September 29. It would change how the Social Security Administration describes different age brackets.

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While the brackets themselves won’t change — nor will the benefits available to retirees — Congress hopes that the bill will make it easier to figure out the best time for you to begin collecting retirement benefits.

If the President signs it, here’s what will change and how it could help you make more money in retirement.

Claiming Age Clarity Act would rename 62, 67 and 70

Social Security is designed so that you pay into it over the course of your working career. You pay a percentage of your earnings each year. If you earn more than $184,500, you only pay Social Security taxes on that amount. Once you hit retirement age, you start collecting money.

But how do you decide what your retirement age is? There’s no set age when people have to stop working; some people build up a nest egg so they can retire early, and some people keep working as long as possible.

For most people, though, the most important factor when timing their retirement is money.

There are plenty of ways you can save for retirement, but many of them are tied to how old you plan to be when you retire. Social Security has three age brackets at 62, 67 and 70.

Right now, those age brackets are called “Early Eligibility Age,” “Full Retirement Age,” and “Delayed Retirement Age.”

However, those terms don’t really tell you what sort of benefit you can expect to get at each age.

The new terms for each of these age brackets are “Minimum Benefit Age,” “Standard Benefit Age” and “Maximum Benefit Age.”

Rep. Lloyd Smucker, who sponsored the bill in the House, is confident that it will make it easier for Americans to understand their retirement options.

“The Claiming Age Clarity Act replaces confusing government terminology with language that better explains how the age at which someone claims Social Security affects their monthly benefit,” he said in a press release.

Read More: Here’s the average income of Americans by age in 2026. Are you keeping up or falling behind?

Social Security insolvency is a looming threat

Even if the new language makes it easier to decide when you should retire, the larger issue is that it could affect how much you earn in retirement.

The Social Security taxes you pay each year are invested into special-issue securities that are issued by the government. By the time you retire, those securities should have made enough money to fully cover your retirement.

However, the rate at which new funds are put into those securities has been outpaced by the rate at which retirees collect benefits from them.

Based on current projections, Social Security is expected to be insolvent by 2032. Once that happens, Social Security benefits for retirees will drop to 78%.

Politicians have proposed different plans for solving this problem. Sen. Elizabeth Warren argues that the government should eliminate the cap on Social Security taxes.

For the majority of Americans, Warren’s plan would not increase their taxes. The top 6% of households would see an increase in their taxes that Warren says would cover Social Security benefits for at least 20 years.

Sens. Bill Cassidy and Tim Kaine have instead proposed supplementing Social Security with a fund that invests in stocks, bonds and other securities. They compare the plan to the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.