Retiree Toolkit
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Born in 1950: full retirement age is 66

If you were born in 1950, your full retirement age for Social Security is 66. Starting at 62 cuts your benefit by about 25.00%. Waiting until 70 raises it by 32%.

$750Start at 62$1,000Start at 66$1,320Wait until 70
A benefit of $1,000 at full retirement age, for someone born in 1950, before cost-of-living increases.
Milestone, born in 1950Year
Earliest age to start, 622012
Medicare eligibility, 652015
Full retirement age, 662016
Delayed retirement credits stop, 702020
Required minimum distributions start, 732023
The year depends on your birthday within 1950 where an age includes months.

Starting at 62

For people born in 1950, starting at 62 is 48 months before full retirement age. The Social Security Administration puts the reduction at about 25.00%, so a $1,000 benefit becomes about $750. A spouse's benefit is cut by about 30.00% at 62.

Waiting until 70

Each month you wait past full retirement age adds 2/3 of 1%. From 66 to 70 is 48 months, which adds 32%: $1,000 becomes about $1,320.

Two details

If you were born on January 1, Social Security treats you as born the year before. And if you delay benefits past 65, the agency says you should still apply for Medicare within 3 months of your 65th birthday.

See your own numbers with the claiming age calculator and the age when waiting pays off with the break-even calculator.

Check our work

Every figure on this page was read from these official documents. Follow the links and compare.