Eligible For Social Security Benefits

Adults With A Disability That Began Before Age 22

An adult who has a disability that began before age 22 may be eligible for benefits if their parent is deceased or starts receiving retirement or disability benefits. We consider this a “child’s” benefit because it is paid on a parent’s Social Security earnings record.

The Disabled Adult Child who may be an adopted child, or, in some cases, a stepchild, grandchild, or step grandchild must be unmarried, age 18 or older, have a qualified disability that started before age 22, and meet the definition of disability for adults.

Example

It is not necessary that the DAC ever worked. Benefits are paid based on the parent’s earnings record.

• A DAC must not have substantial earnings. The amount of earnings we consider substantial increases each year. In 2022, this means working and earning more than $1,350 a month.

Working While Disabled: How We Can Help

Benefits For Children And Grandchildren

Children can qualify for a benefit as the survivor of a deceased worker or as the dependent of a living parent who receives Social Security retirement or disability benefits. Children need to be one of the following:

• Under the age of 18
• 18 or older and disabled from a disability that started before age 22

Benefits paid to a child will not decrease a living parents retirement benefit. The value of the benefits the child could receive, added to the parents benefits, may help the parent decide if taking their own benefits sooner may be more advantageous.

A dependent child can receive up to half of the benefit of a parent who is receiving retirement or disability benefits. If the parent is deceased, dependent children can receive up to 75% of the workers benefit, calculated as a percentage of the benefit that the worker would have received had they continued working until retirement. If you are taking care of a child and receiving benefits, then their benefits may stop at a different time than your own.

If grandchildren become dependents of their grandparents due to the death of their own parents or for other reasons, they can be eligible to receive benefits based upon the earnings record of either of their grandparents. Great-grandchildren do not qualify for dependent benefits, however.

Can You Switch From Your Social Security Benefit To A Spousal Benefit

Yes. If you begin collecting your own Social Security benefits at age 62 but your spouse keeps working for another few years, you are eligible to your spouses benefit after they retire if it is higher than your own. Thus, your spouse will get the maximum amount and you can file for 50% of the amount your spouse would receive at full retirement age.

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Use Our Full Retirement Age Calculator For Social Security

One of the keys of deciding when to retire is determining when you will reach your full retirement age. Full retirement age, also known as normal retirement age, is the age you must reach to start receiving full retirement benefits from Social Security. This age varies depending on when you were born. Because people are generally healthier and living longer, this age has gradually been increasing. For people born before 1938, the full retirement age is 65. People born between 1938 and 1960 are on a scale that ranges up to age 67.

Social Security has developed a Full Retirement Age Calculator that will give you detailed information on when your full retirement age is and what percentage of benefits you can expect as a record holder or as the spouse of a record holder. All thats required is for you to enter the year you were born.

To use the Full Retirement Age calculator, go to

Retirement Age For Those Born After 1937

Year Born 1960 or later 67 years

The system does provide for early retirement at age 62, but also offers higher benefits for people who wait to make their claims after reaching full retirement age. For more information, see Nolo’s article Social Security Benefits: Retirement, Disability, Dependents, and Survivors.

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What Else Affects Your Retirement Benefits

Everyones retirement is unique. Beyond deciding when to begin receiving retirement benefits, other factors that can affect your benefits include whether you continue to work, what type of job you had, and if you have a pension from certain jobs.

Continuing To Work

You can choose to keep working beyond your full retirement age. If you do, you can increase your future Social Security benefits. Each extra year you work adds another year of earnings to your Social Security record. Higher lifetime earnings can mean higher benefits when you choose to receive benefits.

Specific Types Of Earnings

While Social Security earnings are calculated the same way for most American workers, there are some types of earnings that have additional rules.

Earning types with special rules include:

• Work Outside The United States

Pensions And Other Factors

Pensions and taxes have the potential to impact your retirement benefit. Review the resources below on pensions and other factors you should consider:

• Windfall Elimination Provision : If you have a pension from a job for which you didnt pay Social Security taxes, this policy may lower your retirement benefits.
• Government Pension Offset : This policy affects benefits as a spouse, widow, or widower if you have a pension from a government job for which you didnt pay Social Security taxes.
• Income Taxes And Your Social Security Benefits: You might have to pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits in certain situations.

How To Receive Federal Benefits

To begin receiving your federal benefits, like Social Security or veterans benefits, you must sign up for electronic payments with direct deposit.

If You Have a Bank or Credit Union Account:

• Call the Go Direct Helpline at .

If You Don’t have a Bank or Credit Union Account:

• Direct Express debit card – a pre-paid debit card. Get help by calling the Go Direct Helpline at .

Make Changes to an Existing Direct Deposit Account:

On Go Direct’s FAQ page, learn how to make changes to an existing direct deposit account. You also may contact the federal agency that pays your benefit for help with your enrollment.

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How Is My Social Security Benefit Amount Calculated

Another common Social Security benefits question is how payments are calculated based on your lifetime earnings. To account for changes in average wages each year, the Social Security Administration indexes your income using the national average wage index.

The SSA calculates your average indexed monthly earnings based on the 35 years in which you earned the most. A formula generates your basic benefits, otherwise known as your primary insurance amount. This primary insurance amount is what you would receive at your full retirement age. If you were born between 1955 and 1959, full retirement age is between age 66 and 67. For those born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67.5

Can I Collect More Than One Type Of Benefit At A Time

No. You may qualify for more than one type of Social Security benefit at a time, but you can collect just one. For example, you might be eligible for both retirement and disability, or you might be entitled to benefits based on your own retirement as well as on that of your retired spouse. You can collect whichever one of these benefits is higher, but not both.

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How Is Ssi Funded

As an entitlement program, SSI is available to anyone who meets its eligibility requirements. Unlike Social Security , SSI is funded from general revenues. At a cost of just over $50 billion in fiscal year 2012, SSI constitutes a small portion of the federal budget 1.4 percent of total spending that year. SSI expenditures were 0.33 percent of gross domestic product in 2012 and are expected to decline to 0.23 percent of GDP by 2037.

Continuing To Work While Receiving Benefits

You can receive Social Security retirement or survivors benefits and work at the same time. How much you can earn and still get your benefits depends on your age.

If youre younger than full retirement age when you start getting benefits, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for each $2 you earn above the annual limit. In 2021, that limit is $18,960.

For the years 2021 and 2022, we have a special provision that eliminates the retirement earnings test for anyone who reaches full retirement age after 2020. This means that if you reach full retirement age in 2021 or later, we wont deduct anything from your benefits no matter how much you earn.

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How Much Will My Spouse Receive

If your spouse qualifies for benefits on their own record, we will pay that amount first. If the benefit on your record is higher, they will get an additional amount on your record so that the combination of benefits equals that higher amount.

If they begin receiving benefits:

If your spouse will receive a pension for work not covered by Social Security such as government employment, the amount of their Social Security benefits on your record may be reduced.

at any age

Benefits paid to your spouse will not decrease your retirement benefit. In fact, the value of the benefits they may receive, added to your own, may help you decide if taking your benefits sooner may be more advantageous.

Social Security Survivor Benefits

Social Security benefits may be available if you are the survivor–that is, the spouse, child, or parent of a worker who dies. The deceased must have worked long enough under Social Security to qualify for benefits.

Your survivor benefits are based on the earnings of the person who died. The amount you get is based on your age and the type of benefits you are able to receive each month you receive a percentage of the deceaseds basic Social Security benefits. The maximum survivors benefit you can get is limited to what the deceased would have received in life. Click here for additional details and examples.

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Documents You Need To Apply

Please select the benefit you will be applying for from the list below to see what information and documents you may need when you apply:

If you don’t have all the documents you need, don’t delay applying for Social Security benefits.

In many cases, your local Social Security office can contact your state Bureau of Vital Statistics and verify your information online at no cost to you. If we can’t verify your information online, we can still help you get the information you need.

Mailing Your Documents

If you mail any documents to us, you must include the Social Security number so that we can match them with the correct application. Do not write anything on the original documents. Please write the Social Security number on a separate sheet of paper and include it in the mailing envelope along with the documents.

How Much Can I Expect To Get In Social Security Benefits

The amount of benefits to which you are entitled under any Social Security program is not related to financial need , but is based on the income you have earned through years of working, through jobs and self-employment. Social Security keeps a record of these earnings over your working lifetime and pays benefits based on the average amount earned.

Your Social Security retirement benefits will vary depending on whether you claim them before or after your full retirement age . The longer you wait to start receiving payments, the higher your benefit amount will be. However, it’s not always better to wait until your full retirement age to claim your Social Security benefits. For information on estimating your benefits, see Nolo’s article Social Security: Checking Your Earnings and Benefits.

You could be eligible for up to $3,148 per month In SSDI Benefits

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Who Qualifies As A Social Security Dependent

For Social Security purposes, eligible dependents can include:

• Dependent children or grandchildren
• Dependent parents

Dependents may be eligible to receive benefits if an eligible Social Security recipient retires, becomes disabled, or dies. Here is how the program works, based on the type of dependent.

Is Your Condition Found In The List Of Disabling Conditions

For each of the major body systems, we maintain a list of medical conditions we consider severe enough to prevent a person from doing SGA. If your condition is not on the list, we must decide if it is as severe as a medical condition that is on the list. If it is, we will find that you have a qualifying disability. If it is not, we then go to Step 4.

We have two initiatives designed to expedite our processing of new disability claims:

• Compassionate Allowances: Certain cases that usually qualify for disability can be allowed as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed. Examples include acute leukemia, Lou Gehrigs disease , and pancreatic cancer.
• Quick Disability Determinations: We use sophisticated computer screening to identify cases with a high probability of allowance.

For more information about our disability claims process, visit our Benefits for People with Disabilities website.

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Before You Make Your Decision

There are advantages and disadvantages to taking your benefit before your full retirement age. The advantage is that you collect benefits for a longer period of time. The disadvantage is your benefit will be reduced. Each person’s situation is different. It is important to remember:

• If you delay your benefits until after full retirement age, you will be eligible for delayed retirement credits that would increase your monthly benefit.
• That there are other things to consider when making the decision about when to begin receiving your retirement benefits.

apply

Workers Who Retire In Certain Foreign Countries

U.S. citizens who travel toor live inmost foreign countries after they retire usually can receive Social Security benefits. However, if that country is Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan, then the government will not send them Social Security payments. Exceptions may be available in all of these countries except Cuba and North Korea. The governments Payments Abroad Screening Tool is an easy way to check if you will be able to continue receiving Social Security benefits while living abroad or if restrictions will apply.

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Does Social Security Disability Have A Death Benefit

There is no death benefit for Social Security Disability Insurance . If you die while receiving SSDI benefits, your family members may be eligible for survivors benefits if they meet certain requirements.

If a disabled person dies, his or her spouse or dependent may be entitled to Social Security benefits as a surviving spouse. You may be eligible for a specific percentage of SSDI benefits as part of your deceased spouses eligibility. If you remarry before the age of 60, you cannot apply for Social Security benefits as a surviving spouse. If your parent died while receiving SSDI benefits or had SSDI insurance, you may be able to receive Social Security survivor benefits. When you turn 18, you must be a survivor in order to obtain survivor benefits as a child. A SSDI benefit for your deceased parent will continue until the age of 18, and payments will stop the month before you turn 18. If your disabled child provided significant assistance to you as an elderly parent, you may be eligible for a percentage of their Social Security benefits upon their death. Benefits paid to surviving divorced spouses are ineligible for the maximum family benefit. If an ex-husband or ex-wifes earnings record supports their claim, they can receive benefits based on his or her deceased ex-spouses earnings.

Social Security Entitlement Requirements

Many people who are eligible for Supplemental Security Income may also be entitled to receive Social Security benefits. In fact, the application for SSI benefits is also an application for Social Security benefits. We often need to obtain additional information from the person before we can award Social Security benefits.

The following sections provide information on who may be entitled to Social Security benefits.

TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS AS A WORKER YOU MUST BE:

Age 62 or older, or disabled or blind and

“Insured” by having enough work credits.

For applications filed December 1, 1996, or later, you must either be a U.S. citizen or lawfully present alien in order to receive monthly Social Security benefits.

HOW MUCH WORK DO YOU NEED TO BE”INSURED”?

We measure work in “work credits”. You can earn up to four work credits per year based on your annual earnings. The amount of earnings required for a work credit increases each year as general wage levels rise.

To be eligible for most types of benefits , you must have earned an average of one work credit for each calendar year between age 21 and the year in which you reach age 62 or become disabled or blind, up to a maximum of 40 credits. A minimum of six work credits is required, regardless of age.

The rules are as follows:

WHO CAN RECEIVE BENEFITS ON YOUR EARNINGS RECORD?

If you are receiving retirement or disability benefits, your spouse may qualify if he or she is:

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