Outside of his stage work, he has achieved fame as an actor, writer, and director in the film industry. With a career that now spans nearly 40 years, Sam Shepard has gained the critical regard, media attention, and iconic status enjoyed by only a rare few in American theatre. Throughout his career Shepard has amassed numerous grants, prizes, fellowships, and awards, including the Cannes Palme d'Or and the Pulitzer Prize.
The U.S. government has acknowledged that the official retirement age will to increase from 66 years. But doubts about the solvency of Social Security and the need for funding beyond the government entitlement is making the official age obsolete.
A: Full retirement age (FRA) is the age at which a person may first become entitled to full, unreduced, retirement benefits. Based on existing legislation, full retirement age of 66 is only a step on the way to a FRA of age 67. The original Social Security Act of 1935 established that retirement, then the only SSA benefit, could begin at age 65. Since reduced benefits did not yet exist and the retirement age was 65, there was no need then for the concept of full retirement age. The 1956 Amendments signed by President Eisenhower provided an age 62 Social Security retirement option to women effective with November 1956, establishing reduced retirement benefits.