Full retirement age if you were born in 1964

What happens if you file at 62

Filing at age 62 (your earliest possible claim, in 2026) cuts your benefit by 30.00% for the rest of your life. On a $2,000 FRA benefit that is about $600 less per month, or roughly $7,200 less per year. The cut does not unwind when you hit FRA. Every future cost-of-living adjustment scales the smaller base, so the dollar gap actually widens over time.

Filing at 62 still makes sense for some people. Reasons it can be the right call:

• You have a serious health issue that shortens your expected lifespan.
• You need the income to avoid pulling from a 401(k) or IRA in a down market.
• Your spouse is already collecting a much larger benefit and you plan to switch to a survivor benefit later anyway.
• You stopped working involuntarily and the benefit closes a real cash gap.

If you are healthy, have other savings, and do not need the cash right now, filing early almost always loses money in expected value. The break-even point versus filing at full retirement age usually lands somewhere in the late 70s, depending on the exact discount rate you use.

What happens if you file at full retirement age

Filing at exactly 67 (around Jul 2031) gives you 100% of your calculated benefit with no early-claim reduction and no delayed credit. It is the cleanest baseline, and it is also the point at which the earnings test stops withholding any of your check. You can keep working at any income level after FRA without losing a dollar to the test.

A useful rule for your cohort: if you stop working in the year you turn 67, the calendar year you reach FRA (2031) is the year the rules loosen. Earnings before your birthday month still count against the higher earnings limit at the $1-in-$3 rate. Earnings after the birthday month do not count at all.

What happens if you wait until 70

Every month you delay past FRA earns about 0.667% in delayed retirement credits, up to age 70. For your full retirement age of 67, the total boost at exactly 70 is 24.00% above your FRA benefit. On a $2,000 FRA benefit that is about $480 more per month, every month, for the rest of your life.

After your 70th birthday, delayed credits stop. Waiting any longer than that does not grow your benefit further. There is also no extra reward for skipping your 70-year mark, so most people in your cohort who plan to delay should file in the month they turn 70 or shortly after.

Waiting until 70 also raises the survivor benefit a spouse could receive later. Survivor benefits are based on the larger of the two spouses' benefit at the time of the higher earner's death, so the higher earner waiting until 70 protects the surviving spouse for life.

Why Medicare starts before your full retirement age

Medicare eligibility starts at 65 for everyone in your cohort, in 2029. Your Social Security full retirement age is 67, in Jul 2031. That means you become Medicare eligible 24 months before reaching FRA. The two are separate decisions on separate timelines.

The piece most people miss: Medicare Part B has a seven-month initial enrollment window around your 65th birthday (three months before, the month of, and three months after). Missing it because you were focused on Social Security can trigger a lifelong Part B late-enrollment penalty. If you have employer health coverage past 65 you may qualify for a special enrollment period later, but most people in your cohort should enroll on time. The Medicare enrollment overview walks through the seven-month window and the late-enrollment penalty math in detail.

How your full retirement age affects spousal and survivor benefits

Spousal benefits cap at 50% of the worker's FRA benefit and require the spouse to file at their own full retirement age to get the full 50%. Filing earlier reduces it on the same early-claim formula used here. If you and your spouse have similar earnings histories, the spousal benefit is usually irrelevant. If one of you was much higher-earning, the lower earner can sometimes maximize household benefits by claiming the spousal benefit at their own FRA.

Survivor benefits work on a separate schedule. A surviving spouse at their own full retirement age can collect 100% of the deceased worker's benefit. They can file as early as age 60 with a reduced amount. The single most useful planning move for a married couple in your cohort is for the higher earner to delay until 70 if possible, because the surviving spouse can step into that larger benefit later.