About Social Security and Medicare…
Social Security pays retirement,
disability, family and survivors benefits. Medicare,
a separate program run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
helps pay for inpatient hospital
care,
nursing care, doctors’ fees, and other
medical services and supplies to people age 65 and older, or to people
who have been receiving Social Security disability benefits for two
years or more. Your Social Security covered earnings qualify you
for both programs. For more information about Medicare, visit www.medicare.gov or
call 1-800-633-4227 (TTY 1-877-486-2048 if
you are deaf or hard of hearing).
Here are some
facts about Social Security’s benefits:
Retirement — If
you were born before 1938, your full retirement age is 65. Because
of a 1983 change in the law, the full retirement age will increase
gradually to 67 for people born in 1960 and later.
Some people
retire before their full retirement age. You can retire as early
as age 62 and take your benefits at a reduced rate. If you continue
working after your full retirement age, you can receive higher benefits
because of additional earnings and special credits for delayed
retirement.
Disability — If
you become disabled before full retirement age, you can receive
disability benefits after six months if you have:
— enough credits from
earnings (depending on your age, you must have earned six to 20 of
your credits in the three to 10 years before you became disabled);
and
— a
physical or mental impairment that is expected to prevent you
from doing “substantial” work for a year or more or result in death.
Family — If
you’re
eligible for disability or retirement benefits, your current or divorced
spouse, minor children
or adult children disabled before age 22 also may receive benefits.
Each may qualify for up to about 50 percent of your benefit amount.
The total amount depends
on how many family members qualify.
Survivors — When
you die, certain members of your family may be eligible for benefits:
— your
spouse age 60 or older (50 or older if disabled, or any age
if caring for your children younger than age 16); and
— your children if
unmarried and younger than age 18, still in school and younger
than 19 years old, or adult children disabled before age 22.
If you are divorced,
your ex-spouse could be
eligible for a widow’s or widower’s
benefit on your record when you die. |
Receive benefits and still work...
You can continue to work and still
get retirement or survivors benefits. If you’re younger than
your full retirement age, there are limits
on how much you can earn without affecting your benefit amount.
The limits change each year. When you apply for benefits, we’ll
tell you what the limits are at that time and whether work would
affect your monthly benefits. When you reach full retirement age,
the earnings limits no longer apply.
Before
you decide to retire...
Think about your benefits for the long term.
Everyone’s situation is different. For example, be sure to consider
the advantages and disadvantages of early retirement. If you choose
to receive benefits before you reach full retirement age, your benefits
will be permanently reduced. However, you’ll receive benefits
for a longer period of time.
To help you decide when is the best
time for you to retire, we offer a free booklet, Social
Security — Retirement
Benefits (Publication No. 05-10035), that provides specific information
about retirement. You can calculate future retirement benefits
on our website at www.socialsecurity.gov by using the Social
Security Benefit Calculators.
There are other free publications that
you may find helpful, including:
Understanding The Benefits (No.
05-10024) — a
general explanation of all Social Security benefits;
Your
Retirement Benefit: How It Is Figured (No. 05-10070) — an
explanation of how you can calculate your benefit;
Windfall
Elimination Provision (No. 05-10045) — how it affects your retirement
or disability benefits;
Government
Pension Offset (No.
05-10007) — an explanation
of a law that affects spouse’s or widow(er)’s benefits;
and
Identity Theft And Your Social
Security Number (No. 05-10064) — what to do if you’re
a victim of identity theft.
We also have other leaflets and fact sheets
with information about specific topics such as military
service, self-employment or foreign
employment.
You can request Social Security publications at
www.socialsecurity.gov or
by calling us at
1-800-772-1213. |
www.socialsecurity.gov
