AARP<\/a> | Andy Markowitz | Updated June 21, 2022 | Social Security | Life Insurance<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Security provides benefits to more than 65 million people, and those monthly payments have an enormous impact on older Americans\u2019 financial health. According to Census Bureau data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n An institution that looms so large in American life is bound to generate questions about what it does and how it works. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Social Security. You’ll find more detailed information on these issues in AARP’s\u00a0Social Security Resource Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No. As of April 2022, 72.7 percent of beneficiaries were retirees. The remainder were spouses, ex-spouses and children of retirees (4.3 percent); disabled workers and their families (14 percent); and survivors of deceased beneficiaries (9 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can begin receiving retirement benefits at age 62, but your payments will be more significant if you wait until your\u00a0full retirement age<\/a>\u00a0(66 years and 4 months for people born in 1956, gradually rising over the next few years to 67). If you are eligible for\u00a0survivor benefits<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Social Security Disability Insurance<\/a>\u00a0(SSDI), you can start collecting earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can apply for\u00a0retirement<\/a>,\u00a0spousal<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0disability benefits<\/a>\u00a0online, by phone at\u00a0800-772-1213,\u00a0or at your\u00a0local Social Security office<\/a>. For survivor benefits, you can apply by phone or in person.\u00a0Local offices reopened<\/a>\u00a0to walk-in traffic in April after being largely closed to visitors for more than two years due to the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>. Still, the Social Security Administration (SSA) strongly recommends calling ahead to make an appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For retirement benefits, at least 10 years. Social Security uses a system of credits<\/a>, which you collect by working and paying Social Security taxes<\/a>. You can earn up to four credits a year, and you need 40 credits to qualify for retirement benefits. The credit threshold may be lower for disability benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, you can receive benefits while working. But if you are below full retirement age and earn more than a certain amount, your monthly benefits will be temporarily reduced. Once you reach full retirement age, the\u00a0reduction is eliminated<\/a>, and your benefits will be increased to\u00a0make up for what was lost<\/a>\u00a0over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, you can receive benefits while working. But if you are below full retirement age and earn more than a certain amount, your monthly benefits will be temporarily reduced. Once you reach full retirement age, the\u00a0reduction is eliminated<\/a>, and your benefits will be increased to\u00a0make up for what was lost<\/a>\u00a0over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That depends on a number of factors, most crucially your lifetime earnings from work in which you paid Social Security taxes. Social Security takes your 35 highest-earnings years, calculates an inflation-adjusted average, and plugs that into a progressive formula<\/a> that determines your \u201cbasic\u201d benefit. The amount will also be affected by how old you are when you claim benefits. You won’t know it for sure until you file, but you can use the AARP Social Security Calculator<\/a> to get an estimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Social Security with links for more details….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148,1,343,2],"tags":[2264,12,25,71,2051,62,1900],"class_list":["post-12397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-ins-blog","category-insurance","category-life-insurance","category-shield-blog","tag-benefits","tag-health-insurance","tag-healthcare","tag-michigan","tag-retirement","tag-shield-insurance-agency","tag-social-security"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12397"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12405,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12397\/revisions\/12405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
1. Is Social Security just for retired workers?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. At what age can I start collecting Social Security benefits?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. How do I sign up for Social Security?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. How long do I need to work to become eligible for benefits?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5.\u00a0Must I stop working to collect retirement benefits?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. How much will I get from Social Security?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. What’s the maximum monthly Social Security benefit?<\/a><\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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