When it comes to Social Security, most people assume their payments are guaranteed for life once they qualify. However, this isn’t always the case. If you do not meet certain requirements, you could see your checks stopped, leaving you without those much-needed benefits. One of the most critical aspects that could affect your eligibility is whether you’ve met the required work credits. Here’s what you need to know to avoid losing your Social Security benefits.
What Are Work Credits and Why Do They Matter?
To be eligible for Social Security benefits, you must acquire what are known as ‘work credits’. Work credits are how the Social Security Administration (SSA) measures the amount of time you have worked and contributed towards the Social Security fund. Work credits are awarded depending on how much you earn and in the year 2024, you earn one credit when you pay $1640 in wages. The most one can earn in a year is four credits.
If you haven’t earned enough credits, the SSA may refuse your benefits even if you have worked for a long time. In order to keep your Social Security payments, you will want to check that you have worked the requisite number of credits for your assessment.
How Many Credits Do You Need to Keep Your Benefits?
The quantity of credits required to qualify for Social Security Benefits varies with age and the kind of benefit being pursued. In most cases, one requires 40 credits roughly translates to 10 years of working in order to be eligible for retirement benefits. If the claim is for disability benefits, the work history requirement may differ with respect to the age the disability occurs.
For example, if the disability occurs prior to reaching the age of twenty-four, it is enough to have earned just six credits within three years. However, should the disability occur after twenty-four years of age it is necessary to have more than six credits. By 50 years, a total of at least 28 credits will need to have been accrued and that number progressively increases with age.
What Happens if You Don’t Have Enough Credits?
Benefits that you may be entitled to will be denied by the Social Security Administration in the event that the credit minimums are inadequate. What this means is that you will have to wait until you satisfy the requirements to be able to start receiving Social Security money which can force you to look for other means. Due to this, it is of utmost importance for those who are almost of retirement age or incapacitating illnesses to constantly monitor their social security claims in order to be covered timely.
Not having enough work credits will also predispose an individual to financial challenges in life. It’s one of the more disregarded criteria, but it is very important if you want to keep your benefits. Look for the earnings and work credits, check them out in the SSA’s website to prevent experiencing shocks in the future.
What About Survivors Benefits?
Survivor benefits are another critical part of Social Security that many people don’t realize are tied to work credits. If you pass away, your family could be entitled to these benefits, but only if you’ve earned enough credits. Generally, your spouse or children will need you to have at least 40 credits, but under a special rule, younger workers may qualify with as little as six credits earned in the three years before their death.
Making sure you have enough work credits is not only important for your retirement or disability benefits, but also for your family’s future financial security in case something happens to you.
Staying On Top of Your Work Credits
It does not matter if you are a long way from your retirement age or very close to the age of being eligible for a retirement, you still have to make sure you check your Social security status as often as possible. The SSA sites allows easy interaction and progress tracking to normal users who are required to create and log into their accounts. As such, you are able to keep track of your credits earned and be sure that you will get your payments.
To summarize, without succeeding in these requirements of credits, one is highly likely going to lose Social Security payments. Things are not the same when it comes to your benefits, you need to be alert and take action towards them because you will need money in the years to come.
