Social Security recipients must wait two more months to reach full retirement age in 2025. For people born in 1959, the number is now 66 years and 10 months. 

Full retirement age (FRA) is based on a person’s birth year and is defined as the age at which workers become eligible to claim 100 percent of their retirement benefit based on lifetime earnings. Recipients born May 2, 1958 through February 28, 1959 will reach full retirement age in 2025, the AARP points out. For those born in 1960 and later, the retirement age will jump to 67.

Claiming a month earlier than your FRA will reduce your benefits. The Social Security Administration said that someone retiring at FRA in 2024 could get a maximum monthly benefit of $3,822, while someone claiming at 62 would receive a max of $2,710. Those who can wait until 70 to start taking benefits are rewarded with a higher benefit amount.

For years, the full retirement age was 65, but that changed with a law passed by Congress in 1983 to gradually raise that number to match the growing expected lifespan, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

In Pennsylvania, nearly 2.6 million retired residents were collecting social security benefits in 2023, according to the SSA.

A cost-of-living adjustment of 2.5 percent (down from 3.4 percent) will also take effect, which increases retirement benefits by about $50 a month beginning in January, according to the SSA. 

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