What is the earliest age to collect Social Security retirement benefits? Eligibility requirements for retirees

The Social Security Administration sends out over 76 million payments to Americans each month. The vast majority of those go to retired workers who on average receive almost $2,089 per month as of September 2026.

In order to receive your full Social Security benefit, you have to wait until you reach full retirement age, which is 67 for those born in 1960 or later. Those who wait to claim their benefit beyond their full retirement age get an 8% boost per year until they turn 70, when you will be entitled to the maximum possible amount.

On the other hand, if you have at least 40 work credits you can retire earlier, but it comes at with the cost of receiving smaller monthly payments permanently.

How to collect Social Security retirement benefits early

Americans born from 1954 to 1960 saw the normal/full retirement age gradually increase from 66 to 67. Those who were born in 1960, and after, won’t reach full retirement age until they are 67 for a full month.

However, the earliest a person can retire is age 62, plus one month as you have to be 62 throughout the first month of retirement. But those that claim benefits before they reach their full retirement age will see lower monthly payments than if they wait.

How to calculate the Social Security early retirement penalty

The Social Security Administration has a calculation for just how much your monthly Social Security payments will be permanently reduced from the primary insurance amount accumulated over the years you contributed depending on just how early you retire.

During the first 36 months, for every month that a beneficiary signs up to receive Social Security prior to full retirement age the primary insurance amount will be reduced by 5/9 of 1 percent, or around 0.55 percent. For each additional month beyond 36 months, the reduction is 5/12 of one percent, or a little less than 0.42 percent.

A person who was born in 1960 or later and that retires at 62 in the first month they eligible to begin receiving Social Security benefits will be 60 months short of full retirement age. That translates to a 30 percent permanent reduction to compensate for the extended number of months it is expected they’ll be collecting monthly payments.

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