Retirement Dates

Updated as announcements arrive

What changed for 2027

Figures and rules on this page last checked against their sources: October 25, 2026.

The numbers for next year arrive one agency at a time through the fall. This page lists what has been announced for 2027, with the source and date of each, and says plainly what hadn't been announced when it was last checked on October 25, 2026.

Announced

Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment

Social Security announced on October 14, 2026 that benefits rise 3.6%1 for 2027. The increase applies to benefits paid from January 2027, and to SSI payments from December 31, 2026.2 For 2026 the adjustment was 2.8%3. CNBC reported the agency's figure for the average increase for retired workers: about $75 a month4.

To see roughly what it means for you, multiply your current monthly benefit by 0.036. That is before any change in the Part B premium, which for 2027 had not been set (see below).

The earnings test and the taxable maximum

Figure20262027
Earnings limit before the year you reach full retirement age ($1 held back for every $2 above it)$24,4805$25,5606
Earnings limit in the year you reach it ($1 for every $3 above it, before the month you reach it)$65,1607$67,9208
Most earnings taxed for Social Security$184,5009$192,30010

The earnings test stops applying from the month you reach full retirement age.11

Medicare drug coverage

  • Standard deductible: $70012, up from $61513. CMS set it on April 6, 2026.
  • Yearly out-of-pocket threshold for covered drugs: $2,40014, up from $2,10015.
  • National base beneficiary premium: $41.3316, up from $38.9917. This is the figure the Part D late penalty is worked out from: 1% of it for each month without creditable coverage.18
  • Average stand-alone drug plan premium: CMS projects $36 a month19 for 2027, against $35.09 a month20 in 2026.
  • No $0-premium stand-alone plans for people without Extra Help, KFF found. About 4 million21 people who paid nothing in 2026 will pay a premium in 2027. The average person has 922 stand-alone plans to choose from, down from 1123 in 2026.

Medicare Advantage choices

  • The average person with Medicare can choose from 2824 Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage, down from 3225 in 2026, KFF counted.
  • 193 counties, home to 638,000 people with Medicare26 have no such plan open to general enrollment.
  • Humana said its 2027 plan exits affect about 600,00027 members, most of whom will be offered another plan. UnitedHealthcare said it is closing a plan for about 390,00028 members, who will have another of its plans available.

If your plan is one of them, check which letter you got. A Plan Non-Renewal Notice means your plan is leaving Medicare, and it comes with a special window to choose another plan until the end of February and a right to buy a Medigap policy.29 If your letter says instead that you'll be moved into another plan from the same company, you stay enrolled and that window doesn't apply; you can still change plans until December 7.30 The details are on your plan is leaving.

Rules that start applying in 2027

The final IRS regulations on the Roth catch-up rule generally apply to contributions in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026, so from 2027. The rule itself, that catch-up contributions must be Roth for people whose prior-year wages from the employer were over a threshold, began in 2026; the 2026 threshold is $150,00031.32

Who reaches which date in 2027

These follow from the birth-date rules, so they are certain:

  • Full retirement age of 67 arrives for the first time. People born from January 2, 1960 through January 1, 1961 reach it during 2027. They are the first group whose full retirement age is 67.33
  • Turning 65, for Medicare: people born from January 2, 1962 through January 1, 1963. Each person's window opens three months before the month they turn 65.34
  • First RMD year: people born in 1954 reach 73 in 2027. Their first RMD is due by April 1, 2028.35
  • The higher catch-up: people born from 1964 through 1967 are 60 to 63 in 2027.36

Not announced as of October 25, 2026

  • The Part B premium and deductible for 2027. CMS's newsroom had no announcement on October 25, 2026.37 The 2026 amounts are $202.90 a month38 and $28339. The 2026 amounts were announced on November 14, 2025.
  • The Part A deductible for 2027. The 2026 figure, $1,73640, was announced together with Part B.
  • The income levels for higher Part B premiums in 2027. For 2026, also announced with Part B, the extra charge starts above $109,000 for a single return, $218,000 for a joint return41.
  • 2027 contribution limits. The IRS hadn't announced them in releases through October 23, 2026.42 For 2026: $24,50043 for 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) plans; catch-up $8,00044; the higher catch-up at 60 to 63 $11,25045; IRAs $7,50046 plus a $1,10047 catch-up; qualified charitable distributions up to $111,00048.

Other sites publish projections of these. This page doesn't repeat them: a figure goes here once the agency that sets it has published it, with that date.

Dates that don't change

  • Open Enrollment: October 15, 2026 to December 7, 2026. Open now. Anyone with Medicare can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or drug plan for the next year; changes start January 1.49 See the checklist.
  • Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1, 2027 to March 31, 2027. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can make one change: another such plan, or back to Original Medicare.50
  • General Enrollment Period: January 1, 2027 to March 31, 2027. If you missed your first window and have no Special Enrollment Period, this is when you can sign up for Parts A and B. Coverage starts the month after you sign up.51

Your own dates, worked out from your birthday, are on the planner.