When can I collect Social Security?

The earliest you can start collecting retirement benefits is age 62. You can apply once you reach 61 years and 9 months of age. 

However, Social Security reduces your payment if you start collecting before your full retirement age, or FRA. (FRA is 66 and 6 months for people born in 1957 and is gradually rising to 67 for those born in 1960 or later.) Only then do you qualify for 100 percent of your basic monthly benefit, which is calculated from your 35 highest-earning years.

Your payment will increase even more if you wait until age 70 to apply, as you’ll be accruing delayed retirement credits. (You can apply later than 70, but it doesn’t change your benefit.)

The starting age can differ for other types of Social Security benefits.

Spousal benefits: These can begin at 62, as long as the spouse on whose work record you are claiming them is already receiving retirement benefits. Spousal benefits are reduced if taken before FRA.

Survivor benefits: You can apply for benefits on the record of a deceased spouse or ex-spouse at 60; 50 if you are disabled; or any age if you are caring for the deceased’s under-16 or disabled child. These benefits are also reduced if claimed prior to full retirement age, which is calculated differently for survivors: It's 66 and 2 months for survivors born in 1957 and is gradually rising to 67 for those born in 1962 or later.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): No age requirement, but you must have spent some time in work in which you paid Social Security taxes. The amount of time increases with age, but you may qualify for SSDI with less time in the workforce than you need to collect retirement benefits. You must also demonstrate that your medical condition meets Social Security’s strict definition of disability and show evidence that it prevents you from working.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is facing a large backlog of disability claims that significantly grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency reported to Congress in October 2023 that the number of pending applications for disability benefits had reached "an all-time high," topping 1 million for the first time. That's up by more than a third since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when the backlog stood at about 747,000, according to data from the SSA's Office of the Inspector General. (Those figures include applications for both SSDI and Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, the other benefit for people with disabilities that is administered by Social Security.)

Keep in mind

• The question of when you can receive benefits is separate from a more important question: When should you claim benefits? The answer is complicated and depends on your job situation, family circumstances, and financial and physical health.
• There is no minimum age for dependent children to receive benefits on the earnings record of a retired or deceased parent. These can begin at any time but in most circumstances end at age 18.
• Parents who were financially dependent on a son or daughter who dies can collect survivor benefits from age 62.