what is full retirement age fra 
full retirement age fra is the age you must reach to be eligible to receive full retirement benefits from social security your fra varies depending on when you were born it s 66 years and two months for those born in 1955 and it gradually increases to age 67 for those born in 1960 and later 12the bottom linethe enactment of social security in 1935 was one of the signature achievements of president franklin delano roosevelt s administration the program remains a cornerstone of most americans retirement serving more than 72 million people benefit amounts vary depending on income and years of employment surviving spouses children parents and disabled workers and their family members may also be eligible to collect benefits in addition to retired workers the average retired worker s benefit amounts to about 20 000 annually so the program shouldn t be relied on as your sole source of retirement income it s important to supplement it with other sources of retirement funding such as individual retirement accounts iras employer sponsored plans such as a 401 k or 403 b and other savings and investments correction may 17 2023 a previous version of this article misstated the starting age at which delaying the collection of social security benefits increases them 