Changes to Social Security are a fact of life, even when lawmakers don't take action to modify the program. Some automatic modifications are built into the Social Security retirement and disability benefits program each year in order to make sure that benefits keep working to provide a reasonable amount of income for retirees and the disabled.
One change, however, has been happening every year but will happen for the last time in 2026. Retirees should be very glad that this is the last year this rule will be modified, as it has made life a little harder for older Americans. Here are the details.
Image source: Getty Images.
2026 is the last time this rule will be altered
For many years, the rules for Social Security have changed as each new year has arrived. Specifically, one very important shift has occurred -- the age at which you can collect your full Social Security benefits has been moving higher.
In the past, full retirement age (FRA) was the same for everyone, and all retirees had to wait to claim Social Security until they were 65. That changed due to reforms in 1983, when lawmakers decided that the full retirement age had to be raised in order to shore up the finances of the Social Security benefits program.
The change to FRA has been phased in gradually. The result is that each year, people who are reaching full retirement age have to wait a little longer until they can claim their standard, unreduced benefit.
Specifically, people born in 1959 who will turn 66 this year have to wait until age 66 and 10 months to claim benefits, while those born in 1958 who turned 66 last year only had to wait until 66 and 8 months. Before that:
- Those born in 1957 had to wait until 66 and six months.
- Those born in 1956 had to wait until 66 and four months.
- Those born in 1955 had to wait until 66 and two months.
- Those born between 1943 and 1954 had to wait until age 66.
Only people born before 1943 were able to claim at the previously standard age of 65. So for many years, every new group that aged into the system has had a slightly longer delay than their peers before they could start their Social Security checks. This meant people had to either wait longer to retire, accept a reduced benefit, or rely on distributions from retirement plans to provide income while waiting for Social Security to begin.
Social Security's full retirement age is changing again in 2026, so this pattern will continue. Anyone who's turning 66 next year will have to wait until 67 to start claiming Social Security.
The good news is FRA will remain the same for the foreseeable future. For anyone born in 1960 or later, FRA is going to remain at 67 unless lawmakers make more modifications to the program.
Why are future retirees better off now that this change is no longer occurring?
It's good news for future retirees that FRA won't be changing after next year. That's because each time FRA has been pushed higher, retirees have faced a de facto benefit cut by either waiting longer to start benefits or facing a lifetime reduction in income that could leave them more reliant on their 401(k)s or other income sources.
The fact that FRA will remain stable will also make retirement planning easier, as all future retirees will know that 67 is the milestone they must reach to receive their standard benefit. This will remain the case unless there's a major change to the law. While that's not necessarily off the table, it would be pretty unpopular, as there's a lot of opposition to raising the full retirement age in future Social Security reforms.
