How Much Work Do You Need
In addition to meeting our definition of disability, you must have worked long enough and recently enough under Social Security to qualify for disability benefits.
Social Security work credits are based on your total yearly wages or self-employment income. You can earn up to four credits each year.
The amount needed for a work credit changes from year to year. In 2022, for example, you earn one credit for each $1,510 in wages or self-employment income. When you’ve earned $6,040 you’ve earned your four credits for the year.
The number of work credits you need to qualify for disability benefits depends on your age when your disability begins. Generally, you need 40 credits, 20 of which were earned in the last 10 years ending with the year your disability begins. However, younger workers may qualify with fewer credits.
For more information on whether you qualify, refer to How You Earn Credits.
Insured Status By Sex 1970 And 2020
Although men historically were more likely than women to be insured, the gender gap is shrinking. The proportion of men who are insured declined slightly from 1970 to 2020, with 91% fully insured and 79% insured for disability in 2020. By contrast, the proportion of women who are insured increased dramaticallyfrom 63% to 87% fully insured and from 41% to 75% insured for disability.
How Does The Social Security Administration Calculate Benefits
Benefits also depend on how much money youâve earned in life. The Social Security Administration takes your highest-earning 35 years of covered wages and averages them, indexing for inflation. They give you a big fat âzeroâ for each year you donât have earnings, so people who worked for fewer than 35 years may see lower benefits.
The Social Security Administration also makes annual Cost of Living Adjustments, even as you collect benefits. That means the retirement income you collect from Social Security has built-in protection against inflation. For many people, Social Security is the only form of retirement income they have that is directly linked to inflation. Itâs a big perk that doesnât get a lot of attention.
Read Also: What Is The Average Disability Rating For Ptsd
Child Beneficiaries December 2020
About 2.9 million children under age 18 and students aged 1819 received OASDI benefits. Children of deceased workers had the highest average payments, in part because they are eligible to receive monthly benefits based on 75% of the worker’s PIA, compared with 50% for children of retired or disabled workers. Overall, the average monthly benefit amount for children was $653.
How Many Work Credits Do You Need
Work credits can be used in two different ways to qualify for SSDI benefits. SSA requires that you must pass two tests related to work credits in order to get SSDI. These tests are known as the recent work test and the duration of work test. One test looks at your overall work history and the other judges your recent work contribution. Heres a look at each.
Recommended Reading: Library Of Congress Veterans History Project
Federally Administered Payments December 2011
A total of 8.1 million persons received federally administered SSI payments. The majority received federal SSI only. States have the option of supplementing the federal benefit rate and are required to do so if that rate is less than the income the recipient would have had under the former state program.
How You Can Make Your Checks Bigger
Since it does make sense for most of us to start collecting early, don’t think that that will shortchange you. For one thing, the system is designed so that if you live an average-length life, you’ll collect the same total benefits no matter when you start collecting them. After all, if you start early your checks will be smaller, but you’ll receive many more of them.
Here are some ways to increase your Social Security benefits:
When it comes to retirement income, Social Security is vitally important for most Americans, so spend a little time thinking about when you’ll want to start collecting, finding out how much you can expect to receive, and taking any steps you can to increase your ultimate benefits.
The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Don’t Miss: How To Claim Va Disability On Taxes
Social Security Spousal Benefits
You may be able to get spouses retirement benefits even if you have never worked under Social Security. Your spouse must already be receiving retirement or disability benefits and you must be at least 62 years of age, and you can also qualify for Medicare if you are at least 65 years of age. You can receive spousal benefits no matter how old you are if you are caring for your spouses child who is also receiving benefits. To receive benefits, a child must be unmarried and either be under age 18 or be age 18-19 and a full-time student they can also receive benefits if they are 18 or over and disabled with a disability that started before the age of 22.
You can also receive spousal benefits even if you are divorced, if the marriage lasted ten years or longer. You must be unmarried, at least 62, your spouse must be entitled to Social Security retirement or disability benefits, and the amount of the benefit you receive based on your own work must be less than the benefit you would receive from your ex-spouses work. To apply for Social Security spousal benefits, you can use the online application you can call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or for the deaf and hard of hearing, 1-800-325-0778 or you can make an appointment and visit your local Social Security office. If you do not live in the U.S. or in a U.S. territory, you can contact the nearest Social Security office, U.S. Embassy, or consulate
How Much Of Your Income Will Social Security Replace
You probably know Social Security is calculated based on your earnings history. You may or may not know that Social Security uses a progessive system to ensure low earners still receive meaningful income from the social insurance program. If you’re a median to high earner, the percentage of your income replaced by Social Security in retirement might be lower than you thought.
Data source: Social Security Administration, author. Calculations by author.
As you can see, the percentage of your income you can expect Social Security to replace falls quickly for anyone who earns an average of more than $12,000 per year throughout their career. If you earn more than $20,000 per year, you’ll fall short of that 70% benchmark retirement planners are fond of.
You can boost your monthly Social Security check by delaying your benefits. Most readers will be able to delay a maximum of three years, until age 70. That will provide a 24% boost to your monthly benefits. Even so, you’ll fall short of the 70% benchmark if you earned more than $29,000 per year in your career.
Note, those are adjusted average incomes, so earnings from earlier in your career need to be adjusted upward. You can find the indexing series the Social Security Administration uses to adjust your earnings from prior years on its website.
Read Also: Can A Person With Bipolar Receive Disability
New Benefit Awards 2002
Benefits were awarded to 4.3 million persons: of those, 42% were retired workers and 17% were disabled workers. The remaining 41% were spouses, children, survivors, or dependents of workers who received benefits based on the worker’s earnings record. These awards represent not only new entrants to the benefit rolls but also persons already on the rolls who become entitled to a different benefit, particularly conversions of disabled-worker benefits to retired-worker benefits at age 65.
| Beneficiary |
|---|
The 4 Types Of Social Security Credits:
Social Security credits are the building blocks that the Social Security Administration relies on to determine whether or not you qualify for one of its programs. In 2021, you receive one credit for each $1,470 of earnings, up to the maximum of four credits per year. The amount of earnings needed to earn a credit increases annually as average wage levels increase.
One stipulation is that your earnings must be subject to Social Security tax to count for a credit. In exchange for this tax, you are eligible for the following important benefits:
- Social Security Retirement Benefits
- Social Security Survivor Benefits
- Medicare
Each of these programs have different requirements for the number of credits to gain eligibility. Heres a quick look at the eligibility for each.
Read Also: Does Ssi Disability Change At Age 65
Try This Life Expectancy Calculator For Social Security
Retirement benefit calculations are based on extensive actuarial studies and data. As a service to the public, the Social Security Administration has developed a simple Life Expectancy Calculator that allows you to plug in your gender and date of birth to get a rough estimate of how long you may live.
Knowing this information may help you in deciding when the right time is to apply for retirement benefits.
To use the Calculator, go to
New Awards To Workers 19772017
Awards to retired workers increased considerably over the past four decades, at a rate that nearly triples the rate by which awards to disabled workers increased. The annualized rate of increase over the period from 1977 to 2017 is 1.6% for retired workers and 0.6% for disabled workers. The annual number of awards to retired workers rose from 1.6 million in 1977 to 3.0 million in 2017, while for disabled workers it increased from 569,000 in 1977 to 716,000 in 2017.
Don’t Miss: How Much Does Ssi Pay For Mental Disability
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
Other Income December 2002
Fifty-eight percent of SSI beneficiaries aged 65 or older received OASDI benefits, as did about 31% of those aged 1864 and 7% of those under age 18. Other types of unearned income, such as veterans’ pensions or income from assets, were reported most frequently among those under age 18 and those aged 65 or older . Earned income was most prevalent among those 1864.
You May Like: What Is Temporary Total Disability Benefits
How To Calculate Social Security Ssdi Benefits
To qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, you must have worked a minimum of five years within ten years, paying taxes into Social Security. You will not qualify for this benefit if you have not worked the equivalent of five full-time years or you have not paid into the system.
SSDI can get complicated. Two important questions when looking at SSDI benefits are:
Note: Just like any other insurance, you will eventually stop being insured once you stop paying for it.
Any disability insurance you qualify for through working and paying into the system will typically lapse five years after you stop working. To be eligible for DIB, you must prove you met the rules of disability before your disability insurance lapses. These timeframes are calculated for each individual based on their specific work history.
Social Security uses a formula to determine how much you should receive as your monthly SSDI benefit. SSDI payments average is $1,358 per month. The SSA has an online benefits calculator that you can use to estimate your monthly benefits.
The monthly SSDI you receive is based on your lifetime earnings paid into Social Security taxes. Social Security uses your average indexed monthly earnings or AIME to begin the process of calculating your monthly benefit.
There are several options on how you can find out what your PIA is from SSA:
Is There A Maximum Benefit
Yes, there is a limit to how much you can receive in Social Security benefits. The maximum Social Security benefit changes each year. For 2022, itâs $4,194/month for those who retire at age 70 . Multiply that by 12 to get $50,328 in maximum annual benefits. If that’s less than your anticipated annual expenses, youâll need to have additional income from your own savings to supplement it.
Recommended Reading: Do You Pay Taxes On Short Term Disability
If You Choose Delayed Retirement
If you decided to wait to age 70 to receive benefits so you could get Delayed Retirement Credits.
Your eligibility year is still 2022.
If your retirement benefits start after your full retirement age , the benefit increases 8% for each year before age 70 that you delay retirement. If your benefits start at age 70, you get credit for the 36 additional months when you did not get benefits and your monthly benefit will be 24% higher.
Your age 70 retirement benefit is $1,096* . If your full retirement benefit had not been reduced by WEP, your age 70 retirement benefit would have been $1,731.*
Number Of Recipients 19742020
The Supplemental Security Income program provides income support to needy persons aged 65 or older, blind or disabled adults, and blind or disabled children. Eligibility requirements and federal payment standards are nationally uniform. SSI replaced the former federal/state adult assistance programs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Payments under SSI began in January 1974, with 3.2 million persons receiving federally administered payments. By December 1974, this number had risen to nearly 4 million and remained at about that level until the mid-1980s, then rose steadily, reaching nearly 6 million in 1993 and 7 million by the end of 2004. As of December 2020, the number of recipients was about 8.0 million. Of this total, 4.6 million were between the ages of 18 and 64, 2.3 million were aged 65 or older, and 1.1 million were under age 18.
Also Check: What Is The Requirement To Get Disability For Vision
Calculate My Social Security Income
These days thereâs a lot of doom and gloom about Social Securityâs solvency – or lack thereof. And regardless of whether you think Social Securityâs future is secure, the fact remains that you shouldnât plan on living exclusively off your Social Security benefits. After all, Social Security wasnât designed to make up a retireeâs entire income.
Still, many people do find themselves in the position of having to live off their Social Security checks. And even if you have other income sources in retirement, Social Security can make up a significant part of your retirement income plan. That’s why itâs important to know all the rules surrounding eligibility, benefit amounts, taxation and more.
Do you need help managing your retirement savings? To find a financial advisor who serves your area, try our free online matching tool.
New Benefit Awards 2014
Benefits were awarded to about 5.4 million persons of those, 52% were retired workers and 15% were disabled workers. The remaining 33% were survivors or the spouses and children of retired or disabled workers. These awards represent not only new entrants to the benefit rolls but also persons already on the rolls who become entitled to a different benefit, particularly conversions of disabled-worker benefits to retired-worker benefits at FRA.
| Beneficiary |
|---|
Also Check: Is Mental Health A Disability Uk
Hiring Disability Lawyers In Charleston Sc
If you are based in Charleston, SC and wish to apply for SSDI benefits because of a recent disability, we can help you. Here at Robert Surface Law Firm, our disability lawyers in Charleston, SC can help you meet the work credits and other requirements set forth by SSA. Contact us today to book a FREE consultation with our disability attorneys.
Average Benefit Amounts 2011
Benefits payable to workers who retire at the full retirement age and to disabled workers are equal to 100% of the PIA . At the full retirement age, widows’ benefits are also payable at 100% of the insured worker’s PIA. Nondisabled widows can receive reduced benefits at age 60. Disabled widows can receive reduced benefits at age 50. Spouses, children, and parents receive a smaller proportion of the worker’s PIA than do widows.
| Beneficiary |
|---|
Don’t Miss: How Far Back Can Social Security Go For Overpayment
Other Income December 2020
Almost 57% of SSI recipients aged 65 or older received OASDI benefits, as did 28.2% of those aged 1864 and 6.3% of those under age 18. Other types of unearned income, such as income from assets, were reported most frequently among those under age 18 and those aged 65 or older . Earned income was most prevalent among those aged 1864.
Social Security Credits Required For Disability Benefits
Generally, the number of Social Security credits required for disability benefits is 40. You must also have recent work history. In fact, 20 of your credits must have earned in the last 10 years ending with the year you become disabled . Since disabilities can also happen to younger workers, there are some exceptions to the 40 credit rule.
The rules are as follows:
- Prior to age 24You may qualify if you have 6 Social Security credits earned in the 3-year period ending when your disability starts.
- Age 24 to 31You could qualify if you have credit for working half the time between age 21 and the time you become disabled.
- Age 31 or olderGenerally, you need to have the number of Social Security credits shown in the chart below.
Read Also: How To Apply For Disability In The State Of Georgia