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, paperwork 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 are not 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 limit. 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 perks you get are the same no matter how many credits you have.
The amount of credits you have earned tells us if you can get retirement or disability benefits, Medicare, and if your family can get survivors’ benefits. If you do not have enough credits, we can not give you advantages.
Still, points 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 person must do to keep their benefits. They need to report:
- If you leave the country for more than 30 days or move to a new house, you must change your mailing address.
- Changes in work and income, such as getting a new job, losing a job, or seeing your monthly income go up or down.
- When a beneficiary gets married or divorced, or when they become a blood, adoptive, or stepparent parent, or when their family changes.
- Changes to the personal record include the beneficiary’s legal name changing, their citizenship or immigration status changing, them being convicted of a crime, and them getting out of jail.
It may seem like too much trouble and extra work, but this is to stop theft, 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 taking 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 do not know they need to report is “changes in employment,” because a lot of people think that if you have a job, you can not 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 do not make any mistakes when you file.