NEW ORLEANS — In your Breakdown: the retirement age is being pushed back again in 2025 and there is a smaller cost of living adjustment coming than last year.
Starting in January, the “full retirement age” will be 66 years and 10 months old for those born in 1959. For those born in 1960 or later, the full retirement age will be 67 or later.
The full retirement age – or FRA - has been inching higher and higher, based on your birth year, since an act by Congress in 1983. That’s when lawmakers changed the program to adjust for longer life expectancies.
Here’s what that means for you.
People born in 1959 will begin qualifying for full retirement benefits next November.
You can claim benefits early, but you’ll get about 30 percent less than if you wait for your full retirement age.
Now, about that Cost of Living Adjustment, or COLA.
Starting in January, millions of people who receive social security checks will see a 2.5 percent increase. That’s about $50 for most people.
This is the smallest cost of living adjustment since 2021. Last year, it was 3.2 percent. The SSA says this is in response to cooling inflation.
If you’re curious when you qualify for your full benefits you can use this calculator.
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