Born in 1956: your Social Security, Medicare & RMD dates

What is the full retirement age for someone born in 1956?

If you were born in 1956, your full retirement age is 66 and 4 months. You reach it in 2022 (born January–August) or 2023 (born September–December) — the month you turn 66 and 4 months — and from then on Social Security pays 100% of your benefit with no earnings test.

You are in the phase-in group: the full retirement age rose two months per birth year from 66 and 2 months (1955) to 67 (1960). Compared with someone born in 1955, you wait two months longer for your full benefit, and claiming at 62 pays a little less (74.2% for 1955, 73.3% for you).

Born on January 1, 1956? Social Security says you reach each age on the day before your birthday, so you are grouped with 1955: your full retirement age is 66 and 2 months, reached in February 2022. The same rule moves every date one month earlier for anyone born on the 1st of a month.

Your key months, by birthday month

For birthdays on the 3rd through the end of the month. Born on the 2nd: you can claim one month sooner. Born on the 1st: every date moves one month earlier.

How much Social Security do I get at 62, 63 … or 70?

Born in 1956, you get 73.3% of your full benefit if you start in the month you turn 62 and 129.3% if you wait until 70. Each year you wait past full retirement age adds 8%; each year you claim early costs 6.7% (5% for years more than three years early).

The 62 row assumes you start in the month you turn 62, which only someone born on the 2nd can do. Everyone else — including people born on the 1st, whom Social Security counts as a month older — starts at 62 and 1 month at the earliest, at 73.8%: $738 for each $1,000 of full benefit.

Our view: if you’re in reasonable health and have savings or work income to bridge the gap, waiting at least to full retirement age usually pays, and for the higher earner in a married couple, waiting to 70 also locks in a bigger survivor benefit. Claim earlier if your health is poor or you truly need the income. The break-even calculator shows the crossover age for your own benefit.

Will the earnings limit cut my benefits in 2026 or 2027?

No. The earnings test stopped in the month you reached full retirement age, in 2022 (born January–August) or 2023 (born September–December). You can earn any amount without Social Security withholding a dollar, and a strong earnings year can even raise your benefit if it replaces a lower year in your record.

When can I get Medicare if I was born in 1956?

You became eligible at 65, in 2021, during a 7-month Initial Enrollment Period around your birthday month. If you skipped Part B then and had no job-based coverage from current work, the late penalty adds 10% of the standard premium for each full 12 months you went without it.

The standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026 and is projected at $209.50 for 2027 Projected. Higher incomes pay more through IRMAA, based on your tax return from two years earlier — check yours with the IRMAA calculator.

When do my required minimum distributions start?

Your RMD age is 73, so your first RMD is for 2029 and is due by April 1, 2030. Every later RMD is due by December 31, so waiting until April means taking two RMDs in 2030. Roth IRAs never require withdrawals while you are alive.

One trap to plan for: if you delay your first RMD to the April 1 deadline, your second is due by December 31 of the same year — two withdrawals in one tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket and raise Medicare premiums through IRMAA two years later. The years before RMDs start are also the cheapest time for Roth conversions.

See your exact amount with the RMD calculator.

Do people born in 1956 get the $6,000 senior deduction?

Yes, for every year it exists, 2025 through 2028. Each person who is 65 or older by December 31 can deduct up to $6,000 on top of the standard deduction, whether or not they itemize. It shrinks by 6% of income above $75,000 ($150,000 for married couples, who must file jointly). You also need a valid Social Security number.

It stacks with the extra standard deduction everyone 65 or older already gets ($2,050 if single, $1,650 per married person in 2026). It lowers taxable income, not the “provisional income” that decides how much of your Social Security is taxed — the taxable Social Security calculator handles both.

How much have cost-of-living raises added since I turned 62?

About 37.2% in total, from 9 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs): every one from December 2018 — the year you turned 62 — through the 3.6% raise paid from January 2027. They apply to your full benefit amount even if you haven’t claimed yet.

• Paid from Jan 20192.8%
• Paid from Jan 20201.6%
• Paid from Jan 20211.3%
• Paid from Jan 20225.9%
• Paid from Jan 20238.7%
• Paid from Jan 20243.2%
• Paid from Jan 20252.5%
• Paid from Jan 20262.8%
• Paid from Jan 20273.6%

That’s the compounded total; Social Security rounds your benefit down to the dime after each raise, so your actual figure can be a few cents lower. Born January 1, 1956? You reached 62 on December 31, 2017, so the 2% COLA effective that December counts for you too.

How long should I plan for my money to last?

Social Security’s actuaries project that a man born in 1956 who reaches 65 lives another 18.8 years on average, and a woman 21.4. Averages hide a long tail: 38.9% of women and 28.3% of men who reach 65 live to 90.

These come from SSA’s cohort life tables (2026 Trustees Report), which build in the improvement in death rates expected over your lifetime. Most websites quote the 2023 period table instead, which freezes death rates at 2023 levels and runs about 0.7 years shorter at 65 for men born in 1956. Our advice: plan to at least 90. Running out of money in your late 80s is a far worse outcome than leaving some behind, and that’s the real case for a bigger, inflation-protected Social Security check.

What is my survivor full retirement age?

If you’re widowed, your survivor full retirement age is 66 — not the same as your own full retirement age of 66 and 4 months. Survivor benefits can start at 60 at 71.5% of what the deceased was entitled to, and reach 100% at 66.

The survivor schedule runs two birth years behind the retirement schedule, which is why the two ages differ for you. A widow or widower can take one benefit early and switch to the other later — for example survivor benefits first and your own, larger benefit at 70. The full survivor table is on our full retirement age chart.

What should people born in 1956 do now?

If you’ve been waiting, claim for the month you turn 70 this year — there is nothing more to gain after it, and SSA pays at most 6 months of back benefits if you file late.

• Your first RMD is for 2029; plan whether to take it that year or by the April deadline (and pay two in one year).
• A bigger Social Security check plus RMDs can raise the share of benefits that’s taxed — run the numbers before year-end.