Retirement Age Calculator

Several dates anchor any Social Security and Medicare plan, and this tool lays them out for you: your Full Retirement Age (FRA), the earliest point you can claim, the date Medicare eligibility opens, and the age at which delayed credits stop adding to your benefit. For anyone mapping out a retirement around 2026, those specific ages and dates are what turn a vague plan into a concrete one tied to current Social Security rules.

Your FRA comes from your birth year, following the Social Security Administration's schedule, which sets it at 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. The earliest you can start benefits is age 62, Medicare eligibility begins at 65, and delayed retirement credits keep accruing through age 70, raising your monthly benefit for each year you wait past your FRA before claiming.

Claiming at 62 permanently lowers your monthly check, while waiting builds it up through those delayed credits, and the gap between the two choices shapes your income for the rest of retirement. The ages shown here are only part of the picture: this tool does not weigh your earnings history or spousal benefits, both of which can shift what the best claiming strategy actually is for you.