When to Retire in the States
Full retirement age is 66 for people born in 1943–1954. For people born after 1954, full retirement age was gradually raised, up to age 67. For those born in 1955, full retirement age is 66 and 2 months; 1956: 66 and 4 months; 1957: 66 and 6 months; 1958: 66 and 8 months; 1959: 66 and 10 months; 1960 and later: 67.
You can start collecting early retirement benefits as early as age 62, but they are then permanently reduced depending on your age. For example, a person whose full retirement age is 66 will receive, at age 62, a benefit 25% lower than the full benefit. For those born in 1960 and later, with a full retirement age of 67, the benefit at age 62 is 30% lower.
You can also retire later, after reaching full retirement age, in which case your Social Security benefit will be increased accordingly. I will write for you another time about how the amount of benefits depends on age.
When to Retire Under ZUS
In Poland, the general retirement age, in both the old and the new pension system, is 60 for women and 65 for men. The old pension system, which applies to people born before January 1, 1949, provides for several types of pensions:
The traditional pension
Women aged 60 with at least 20 years of contributory and non-contributory periods, and men aged 65 with at least 25 years of contributory and non-contributory periods, are entitled to a pension.
Partial pensions are provided for under Article 28 of the pension act. A woman who has reached 60 and has at least 15 years of contributory and non-contributory periods, and a man aged 65 with 20 years of contributory and non-contributory periods, may receive a pension. If necessary, these periods can be supplemented with periods of work on a farm. This pension is not raised to the amount of the minimum guaranteed pension (a pension with a reduced insurance record).
Early pensions
Women who were employed can receive a full pension at age 55 if they:
- have proven 30 years of contributory and non-contributory periods, or
- have proven 20 years of contributory and non-contributory periods and at the same time have been found completely unable to work.
Men can receive a full pension after reaching age 60 if they:
- have proven at least 35 years of contributory and non-contributory periods, or
- have proven at least 25 years of contributory and non-contributory periods and have been found completely unable to work.
You can find more information at: www.zus.pl
The new pension system for people born after December 31, 1948 does not require any specific number of years worked. The pension will depend on the amount of capital accumulated in the account and on the projected number of remaining years of life. That is why it will pay for people in this age group to delay retirement.
Since January 1, 2011, ZUS (Poland’s Social Insurance Institution) has imposed an additional condition on applicants: to receive a pension, you have to quit your job and present the appropriate certificate. You can then be hired again (provided they take you back).
When to Retire with a Combined Pension
On March 1, 2009, the social security agreement between the Republic of Poland and the United States of America took effect. It brought several changes for Polish-American retirees and disability beneficiaries, the most important of which is the ability to combine periods of coverage.
If You Did Not Work Long Enough
If someone did not work 40 quarters in the States, then after reaching the American retirement age he or she can receive partial Social Security retirement benefits by combining American periods of coverage with Polish ones. This is called combining pensions (totalization), although the term is imprecise. It is not the pensions that are combined, but the periods of coverage. Unfortunately, collecting totalized benefits from the SSA does not entitle you to Medicare coverage.
Similarly, if someone did not work the required number of years in Poland (see above), then after reaching the Polish retirement age he or she can apply to ZUS for a partial ZUS pension. Periods of coverage in Poland will be combined with periods of coverage in the States, and the pension will be calculated accordingly on that basis, which I explain in detail in my book “Emerytura polska i amerykańska” (“Polish and American Pensions”).
The conclusion: We start receiving a combined pension at the age set by the laws of the given country. In the States – from age 62, in Poland – at the general retirement age: 60 for women and 65 for men (the early pensions from age 55 described above applied to people born before 1949).
What to Do?
Apparently Poland is a wealthier country than America, because it allows its citizens to stop working much earlier. So what should people who are entitled to two benefits do?
After turning 60, Ms. Ewelina can apply for a pension in Poland (she can do so as early as age 55, but the benefits will then be lower). If she has enough years of coverage, she will get a full pension; otherwise she can apply for a partial (“combined”) pension based on combined periods of coverage in Poland and in the States.
When Ms. Ewelina is ready to start Social Security retirement benefits, she will file an application with the SSA. If she does not have 10 years of work, she can get partial Social Security retirement benefits based on her periods of work in the US and in Poland.
I write more about combined pensions – how and where to apply for them and what the consequences of receiving them are – in the book “Emerytura polska i amerykańska” mentioned above. There I list the necessary applications and explain how a full and a combined pension affect Social Security benefits.
It is worth knowing that the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision), which reduced the American benefits of people who also received a Polish pension, was repealed by the Social Security Fairness Act signed on January 5, 2025. The change applies to benefits payable from January 2024.
Elżbieta Baumgartner
Elżbieta Baumgartner is the author of many self-help books, including “Powrót do Polski” (“Returning to Poland”), “Emerytura reemigranta w Polsce, podręcznik seniora wracającego do kraju” (“A Returning Emigrant’s Pension in Poland: A Handbook for Seniors Moving Back Home”), “Ubezpieczenie społeczne Social Security” (“Social Security”), “WEP: Jak walczyć z redukcją Social Security dla Polaków” (“WEP: How to Fight the Social Security Reduction for Poles”) and “Obywatelstwo z przeszkodami” (“Citizenship with Obstacles”). They are available in Polish-American bookstores and directly from the publisher: Poradnik Sukces, 255 Park Lane, Douglaston, NY 11363, tel. 1-718-224-3492. A list of these and many other guides is available online at: www.poradniksukces.com
Updated October 2026.
