Social Security Retirement Benefits

The Social Security Administration claims that almost nine out of ten people who are 65 years of age or older receive Social Security benefits. In addition to Social Security Disability, the Social Security Administration (SSA) provides a retirement program to people who work in the United States. As defined by the SSA, the program administers retirement income to eligible retirees and their families. It is important to be informed about the specific benefits of retirement, as well as information that may be helpful when applying.

As defined by the SSA, Social Security replaces a percentage of an employee’s pre-retirement income based on their lifetime earnings, specifically the highest 35 years of earnings and when they choose to start receiving benefits. The tax money that workers pay to Social Security provide benefits to workers who are retired, disabled, survivors, or dependents of beneficiaries. Statista wrote on their website that there were approximately 45.1 million retired workers that received Social Security benefits in 2019.

The SSA defines more information about eligibility on their website. They write that individuals are able to apply for retirement benefits when they reach a certain age and have worked and paid toward Social Security in order to receive benefits. As stated on the website, a worker earns “credits” that are used to track their Social Security benefits. An individual must have 40 credits in order to be eligible. If they do not work and have not received the sufficient amount of credits, they will be unable to receive retirement benefits. The number of credits varies on the year that a person was born. As described by the SSA, people who were born in 1929 and beyond need to achieve 40 credits. To estimate, this would be equal to approximately 10 years of work experience.

People can also choose to continue working past their retirement age. As a result, they will be able to increase the payment of the Social Security benefits that they would receive when they apply for the program. Every additional year that they work will be added to their Social Security records. This allows them to receive additional years of benefits. The age to retire depends on the individual. There are age categories in which people can retire, including early, full, or delayed retirement ages. Early retirement age is categorized by the youngest age that people can apply, which would be 62 years of age. However, starting retirement early causes benefits to be gradually reduced. Full retirement age allows people to collect their full benefit amount. The age varies on the year that people were born. Commonly, people who are 66 or 67 years of age are considered for full retirement age. However, it is important to know that this age may be younger or older. Delayed retirement age applies to applicants who are older than 70 years old. It is not required for people to apply before the delayed retirement age. The longer an individual delays their benefits will cause their overall amount of retirement benefits to increase until they are 70 years old.

Planning for retirement is very important for workers. Not only will their retirement affect the applicant, but it will also affect the retiree’s family. When applying for benefits, it is beneficial to learn information and advice about the SSA’s retirement program. To find the information discussed in this post regarding retirement or to learn more about Social Security, visit the SSA’s website at ssa.gov.