People all over the country love Social Security, which is one of many programs run by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Plus, even though it might look like everyone is eligible for benefits, there are times when the rules are very strict and must be followed to the letter.
When dealing with the government, bureaucracy can be very frustrating, even for the most patient people. That is why it is important to know ahead of time what requirements must be met in order to get paid. The rules may be strict, but they are not hard to follow if you take your time, be patient, and plan ahead.
Conditions to access Social Security benefits
In general, the first condition is known, but the specifics aren’t always clear. In order to get benefits, a person must have worked and paid taxes for at least ten years. What does this really mean in the real world? Every year, Social Security gives out four credits. To get benefits, you need forty credits, which means you have to work for at least ten years.
Some income is not taxed for Social Security, as most people know. There is also a minimum, as well as a maximum. Under the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), both of these numbers go up every year. The SSA says the same thing.
You get credits when you work and pay into Social Security. The benefits you get are the same no matter how many credits you have.
The number of credits you’ve earned tells us if you can get retirement or disability benefits, Medicare, and if your family can get survivors’ benefits. If you don’t have enough credits, we can’t give you benefits.
Still, credits are worth something, and that something is the minimum taxable income. You will get one Social Security and Medicare credit for every $1,730 you make each year in 2024. To get all 4 credits for the year, you need to make $6,920.
In 2025, you need to make $1,810 working for someone else or for yourself to get one credit. To get four full credits, you need to make $7,240.
As long as you meet the basic requirements to get benefits, the rest are easier to handle. Let the SSA know about any changes in your life. This is the most important thing a beneficiary must do to keep their benefits. They need to report:
- Housing changes: moving to a new home, changing mailing address, and leaving the country for more than 30 days.
- Changes in employment and income: starting a new job, losing a job, and increasing or decreasing monthly income.
- Changes in family composition: marriage or divorce of the beneficiary, or if the beneficiary becomes a biological, adoptive, or stepparent parent.
- Updates to the personal record: change of the beneficiary’s legal name, change of citizenship or immigration status, conviction for a criminal offense, and release from prison.
It may seem like too much trouble and extra work, but this is to stop fraud, since checks have been stolen or lost in the past. This is why SSA officials check the identities of all members all the time to make sure no one is stealing money from the state. To avoid problems, it is important that all the information is correct and up to date.
The change that most people don’t know they need to report is “changes in employment,” because a lot of people think that if you have a job, you can’t get benefits. This is not true. There are a lot of rules about getting a job while getting benefits, but the SSA’s website has all of them so you don’t make any mistakes when you file.
