When to retire is one of the most important decisions that every employee must make during their career. It is a significant decision because it will influence the Social Security benefit they receive until they die, so making the right choice is critical at this stage.
Every year, workers reach their full retirement age and decide whether to reflect on their career, life, and options before retiring or to continue working for a few more years.
In fact, some people may have completed this process years ago and will be retired by the time they reach their full retirement age, so this article may not be relevant to those who are already receiving benefits.
For those who are still working and want more information, read on to find out if 2025 will be the year you receive your first benefit check.
Collecting Social Security in 2025 at full retirement age
Although we discussed full retirement age in the introduction, it is not the only age at which a worker can begin receiving retirement benefits. Workers can claim benefits as early as age 62, so those born in 1963 can start this year.
Having said that, there is a significant disadvantage to filing this early claim: benefits would be permanently reduced by 30% of what they would have been at full retirement age.
According to the Social Security Administration, the maximum benefit for a worker who retires at full retirement age in 2024 is $3,822. However, if you retire at age 62 in 2024, the maximum benefit is $2,710.
The difference is quite noticeable, and while there are numerous reasons why a worker might want to advance their retirement age and start collecting benefits sooner rather than later, if you are not one of those people, knowing when to claim will be useful information.
Nowadays, the term “full retirement age” is somewhat misleading, as there is no single age at which any worker will suddenly become eligible for 100% of their primary insurance amount (PIA) or the full retirement benefit.
This is because the full retirement age has steadily risen since 1984, when the Social Security program failed for the first time.
Rising full retirement is one of the measures they proposed to prevent future collapses, and because the increase was gradual, it has yet to be fully implemented.
The increase was intended to raise the full retirement age from the original 65 established in 1935 to 67 years old for those born in 1960 or later. The table below can help those who want to know exactly when they will reach full retirement age.
| If you were born in: | You reach full retirement age in: |
| May 1958 | January 2025 |
| June 1958 | February 2025 |
| July 1958 | March 2025 |
| August 1958 | April 2025 |
| September 1958 | May 2025 |
| October 1958 | June 2025 |
| November 1958 | July 2025 |
| December 1958 | August 2025 |
| — | September 2025 |
| — | October 2025 |
| January 1959 | November 2025 |
| February 1959 | December 2025 |
To be safe, remember that you must claim benefits no earlier than four months before the date your benefits are scheduled to begin, and to be even safer, try to claim as close to your full retirement age as possible, so that the Social Security Administration has enough time to process your benefits and you have reached your full retirement age without losing benefits.
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