Social Security has been a MINOR topic of discussion during the past few political campaigns. It is expected to be one of the MAIN topics during the 2016 elections. Social Security Disability Insurance is due to be unable to pay its full benefits to disabled workers in August, 2016. (Only a few months before we voted for a new President, one-third of the Senate and all of the House of Representatives.) At that point, if nothing is changed, disabled workers will lose about 20% of their benefits each month. This can be changed, but Rep. Reed proposed, and the House of Representatives, agreed to limit the way of changing SSDI is to raise taxes or cut benefits. What a choice! This has been discussed in earlier New NY 23rd articles. This article contains basic information about Social Security and links to get more information. Consider sharing this article with others. They will appreciate it.
Social Security—You’ve Earned It!
Social Security has been an important factor in American life since it started in 1935. Today almost 64.5 million Americans have earned what Social Security provides– Peace of Mind.
Peace of Mind knowing that you will have a guaranteed income when you retire. Peace of Mind knowing there will be income if you get a disabling disease or are in a car accident and can not work. And Peace of Mind knowing that there will be income for your survivors.
Social Security is not a gift. You don’t automatically quality for Social Security. You have to earn it.
As workers, 6.2 percent of our pay is deducted for Social Security benefits. You will see that on your pay stub under FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act). We earn one Social Security “CREDIT” for each three month period that we earn a certain amount of money. In 2015 that amount is $1220.
The credits are portable. If we change jobs, we take our earned credits along with us. If we stop working for any reason we keep the credits that we have earned and can add to them if we begin working again.
Yearly Social Security sends us information showing our records they have on file. They ask us to review the records and inform them if there are any mistakes.
Be Aware: Not All Jobs are Covered by Social Security. Some state and local government jobs are not covered by it. They do not deducted money from their workers for Social Security benefits and the workers will not earn Social Security credits. For more information about government jobs contact Social Security or follow this link .
There are special rules about other kinds of jobs—Domestic work, farm work , or work for a church or a church controlled organization that does not pay Social Security taxes, and some family businesses. You will earn credit working in the Military, and you may be eligible for extra credit through your military career. There are too many exceptions to list them. Contact Social Security for more information on these, or other, special job situations.
You need to earn 40 credits to qualify for Retirement Benefits. You can receive Full Retirement at 66 (unless you were born after 1959, then your Full Retirement is at 67). You can get benefits as early as 62, but the monthly payment will be lower than if you waited for Full Retirement.
If a person earns 40 credits, and dies before they receive benefits, certain members of the family are eligible for the worker’s earned benefits, called Survivors Benefits. Contact Social Security or follow this link for details about Survivors Benefits.
Workers who are not retired can get Social Security benefits if they become disabled and can not work. To receive Disability Benefits before you are 24 you generally need to earn 6 credits (1 1/2 years) in the three years before you became disabled. If you are between 24 and 30, you generally need to have credits for half of the time between age 21 and the time you became disabled. If you are disabled at age 31 or older, you generally need at least 20 credits in the 10 years immediately before you became disabled. Contact Social Security or or follow this link for details about Disability Benefits.
**************** How To Contact Social Security Go to: http://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/
To sign up for a an Social Security Account To review your Social Security Statement To learn about Benefits: Retirement, Disability, Survivors and more
To use the Retirement Estimator To see Social Security’s On-Line Services To get Facts about Disabilities
Go to: http://socialsecurityhop.com
To View the Social Security Handbook
To locate a Social Security Office
For a good article about Entitlements see “I’m Entitled…A Deal’s A Deal”
