Social Security Programs Sacto PG
WHO CAN GET SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS?
Covered workers pay for Social Security (FICA) by being taxed on the money they earn, and employers must match this amount. Social Security covers both employees and people who are self-employed.
The amount of Social Security you get depends on how much money you have earned and how many quarters you worked in a job covered by Social Security. As of 2022, a quarter is credited to your account for each $1,510 earned. You cannot earn more than 4 quarters in a year. Visit http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/QC.html for the latest coverage data.
1. Retirement Benefits
Monthly payments are made to workers and their eligible dependents, which include:
• children under 18
• children age 18 to 19 who are full time students
• children age 18 or over with a disability which began before age 22
• spouses and unremarried ex-spouses who are 62 or over
• spouses and unmarried ex-spouses caring for the worker’s children who are under 16, or for children who are disabled and entitled to benefits on the worker’s account.
To get full retirement benefits you must be at least 65 and as many as 67 years old depending on when you were born. See https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/ageincrease.html to see the age at which you can receive full retirement benefits. To receive reduced benefits, you must be at least 62. Persons over 65 receiving retirement benefits also get Medicare benefits.
You can earn money and still get retirement benefits. If you are over 65, there is no earnings limit. If you are between 62 and 65, there are limits which can be calculated at http://www.ssa.gov/planners/ . The limit increases every year. If your earnings are over the limit, your retirement benefits are
reduced (by $1 for every $2 earned above the limit). These limits apply only to what you earn, not to money you get from investments, pensions, and other “unearned income.”
2. Survivor Benefits
When a covered worker dies, monthly payments are made to eligible family:
• A spouse over age 60 or disabled over age 50 or caring for the worker’s child who is under 16 or disabled
• The spouse above can be divorced from the worker only if the marriage lasted at least a decade
• A disabled adult unmarried child
A parent of the worker over age 62 if at least 50% dependent on the worker.