In 2026, a big change is coming automatically to Social Security. It will affect the amount of benefits that new retirees get and could impact when you claim benefits.
Social Security has experienced this change for a long time, but 2026 is the last year that it will occur — at least for the foreseeable future or unless Congress takes drastic action.
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Here’s what the change is, along with some details on how it could affect you.
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The big Social Security change happening in 2026 is a change to the full retirement age (FRA). FRA is the age you can claim your full benefit based on average wages, without that benefit being reduced at all due to early filing penalties.
Full retirement age has been gradually moving later, as a result of reforms in 1983 that were designed to stabilize Social Security’s finances. For example:
As you can see, each year for a very long time, individuals who were newly 66 had to wait longer to claim benefits thanks to the annual changes to FRA. That’s going to stop in 2026.
Everyone who turns 66 next year and beyond is going to have to wait until 67 to claim their benefits. Those who turn 66 in 2026 will have the same FRA as those who reach that milestone in 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, and so on.
While it’s good news that Social Security’s FRA is not going to change any more, seniors who hit 66 next year and beyond will still have to face the reality that they have to wait two full years longer to get their standard unreduced benefit compared to earlier retirees who got their Social Security benefits before the rule change made in the ’80s.
When lawmakers made changes to Social Security in the 1980s, the goal was to help the program become financially stable because the trust fund was in danger of running out of money. That would necessitate benefit cuts. Moving the full retirement age later was one solution to this problem. The change incentivized seniors to wait and resulted in those who claimed their benefits early being hit with more penalties and receiving smaller checks each month for the rest of their lives.
Changing FRA isn’t very popular, though, so lawmakers phased in the change slowly. That’s why FRA has been moving back so gradually. Lawmakers at the time didn’t want to push the full retirement age any later than 67, though, so once FRA hits 67, the automatic annual changes will stop.
Now, Social Security’s finances are in trouble again, so it’s possible lawmakers may make a similar change to full retirement age in the future — although President Donald Trump has promised no benefit cuts will happen, so that may not occur under this administration.
Even if a change does happen, under President Trump or future administrations, it’s likely to be phased in slowly, as it was the last time. Because of that, those nearing retirement now are very unlikely to be affected even if lawmakers take action — and all signs point to the fact that 2026 will be the last year that FRA changes for the foreseeable future.
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