Social Security benefits provide monthly income to eligible retirees, disabled workers and the families of workers who die. Eligibility and payment amounts depend on a person’s work record, age and family circumstances.
How Social Security benefits work and who qualifies
Social Security is a federal insurance program administered by the Social Security Administration. Workers generally contribute through payroll taxes withheld from their paychecks. Self employed workers pay Social Security taxes when they file their taxes. Those contributions support benefits for people who qualify now, rather than being placed in an individual account for each worker.
The program has two main trust funds. The Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund pays retirement and survivor benefits. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund pays benefits to eligible workers with disabilities. Money not needed for current payments remains in the funds. A board of trustees oversees their financial operations. Four of its six members are federal officials, including the secretaries of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services, and the Social Security commissioner. The president appoints the other two members, subject to Senate confirmation.
Work credits are one measure of eligibility. A worker can earn up to four credits in a year. In 2024, one credit required $1,730 in earnings, so $6,920 in covered earnings earned the annual maximum of four credits. The earnings amount required for a credit changes each year. Most workers need 40 credits, generally equivalent to 10 years of work, to qualify for retirement benefits.
Credit requirements for disability and survivor benefits vary with age and other circumstances. A worker may qualify for disability benefits with fewer credits at a younger age. Survivors’ eligibility also depends on the deceased worker’s record and the survivor’s relationship and circumstances. A spouse or former spouse may be eligible on a worker’s earnings record, so a person’s own work history is not the only record to check.
Social Security is separate from Supplemental Security Income, or SSI. SSI provides monthly cash payments to older people and people with disabilities who have little or no income. A person may qualify for both programs, but eligibility for one does not automatically establish eligibility for the other. Medicare is also distinct. It is federal health insurance for people age 65 and older and some people receiving disability benefits. Medicare payroll contributions go to a separate trust fund managed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
For a practical first check, review your work record and estimate benefits at different claiming ages using the Social Security Administration’s calculator. If you have a current or former spouse, children, or a family member with a disability, check whether their circumstances could make them eligible on your record. Family eligibility rules are specific, and the program’s general credit requirements do not answer every case.
Retirement eligibility, claiming ages and monthly payments
Workers with enough credits can begin retirement benefits at age 62. That is earlier than full retirement age, or FRA, and results in a lower monthly payment than waiting until FRA. Full retirement age depends on birth year. It is 66 years and two months for people born in 1955, then rises gradually to age 67 for people born in 1960 or later.
Waiting beyond FRA can raise the monthly benefit. For people whose FRA is 66 to 67, delayed retirement credits increase the annual benefit by 8% for each year of delay, starting with the year after FRA. The increase stops at age 70. Someone whose FRA is 66 receives 100% of their primary insurance amount at FRA, 108% after delaying for a year, and 132% at age 70. Waiting past 70 does not produce a further increase.
| Claiming point | Benefit detail in the source figures | Practical distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Age 62 | Maximum monthly benefit of $2,710 in 2024, or $32,350 annually | Benefits can start early, but the monthly amount is lower than at FRA |
| Full retirement age | 100% of the primary insurance amount at FRA | FRA ranges from 66 years and two months for people born in 1955 to age 67 for people born in 1960 or later |
| Age 70 | Maximum monthly benefit of $4,873 in 2024, or $58,476 annually | Delayed credits stop increasing the payment after this age |
The maximum figures are not typical payments. A person’s own retirement benefit is calculated using average indexed monthly earnings, based on the 35 years with the highest earnings. The average monthly retirement benefit was $1,869.77 in June 2024. Your earnings history and claiming age can produce a substantially different amount, so the national average is a reference point, not a personal estimate.
Family members may also be able to claim on a worker’s record. Spouses can qualify using their own earnings record or a partner’s. A divorced person who is not currently married may qualify through a former spouse if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. Children of retired workers may receive benefits until age 18, or longer if disabled or a student. A caregiver’s eligibility related to a child who is not their own ends when that child reaches age 16.
A special minimum benefit exists for some people with long careers and low earnings. The provision dates to 1972 and requires at least 11 years of income. In December 2023, the minimum monthly payment was $50.90. It rises with additional years of low income work, reaching as much as $1,066.50 monthly, or $12,798 annually, for someone with 30 years of work. These figures describe the program provision, not a prediction for every low earning worker.
Disability and survivor benefits for workers and families
Social Security Disability Insurance, often called SSDI, may pay benefits to people unable to work because of a physical or mental disability expected to last at least a year or result in death. Applicants generally have to pass earnings tests, with the requirements depending in part on age. Eligible family members of a disabled worker may also receive benefits.
About 8.3 million Americans received SSDI in June 2024. The average monthly payment across recipients was $1,398.08. For disabled workers, the average was $1,537.70. Spouses of disabled workers received an average of $420.74 per month, or $5,048.88 annually, while children received an average of $493.19 per month.
Survivor benefits may be available to a deceased worker’s spouse, children and, in some cases, parents. A surviving spouse may qualify at age 60, or at age 50 if disabled. A spouse caring for the deceased worker’s child who is under 16 or disabled may also qualify. Children generally must be under 18 or disabled. Under certain circumstances, eligibility can extend to a stepchild, grandchild, step grandchild or adopted child.
A parent age 62 or older may qualify if the parent depended on the deceased worker for at least half of their income. In some circumstances, a surviving spouse and minor children can also receive a one time payment of $255 after an eligible worker dies. The payment and ongoing survivor benefits have different rules, so family members should not assume that meeting one condition guarantees the other.
| Survivor group | Average monthly benefit, June 2024 | Annual amount reported |
|---|---|---|
| Children of deceased workers | $1,105.32 | $13,263.84 |
| Widowed mothers and fathers | $1,279.53 | $15,354.36 |
| Nondisabled widow or widower | $1,784.09 | $21,409.08 |
| Disabled widow or widower | $927.89 | $11,134.68 |
| Parents of deceased workers | $1,618.45 | $19,421.40 |
Approximately 5.8 million people received survivor benefits in June 2024. The average monthly payment across recipients was $1,507.76, equal to $18,093.12 annually. The group averages in the table differ because survivor payments vary by the recipient’s relationship to the worker and the circumstances of the claim.
Funding outlook and steps to check your record
Social Security’s scale reflects decades of payroll contributions. In 2023, 183 million people paid Social Security taxes. More than 72 million Americans were projected to collect benefits in 2024. The program began after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. Monthly checks first became payable on January 1, 1940. Ida M. Fuller, a retired legal secretary in Vermont, received the first check, for $22.54.
The central financial question is whether future payroll revenue and trust fund reserves will cover scheduled payments. In its 2024 report, the Social Security Board of Trustees projected that the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund reserves would be depleted in 2033, the same year projected in the previous report. After reserves are depleted, ongoing revenue was projected to cover 79% of scheduled benefits.
The same report projected that the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, which finances Medicare Part A, would run out of reserves in 2036. That projection was five years later than the 2023 estimate. At that point, program income was projected to cover 89% of scheduled benefits. These are projections, not a statement that payments stop when reserves are depleted. The figures point to a gap between scheduled benefits and the revenue expected to be available.
Congress would need to address the projected shortfalls through policy changes. Possible approaches include raising taxes, reducing benefits or increasing retirement ages. The figures do not specify which changes lawmakers might choose. Nor do they establish that an individual’s benefit will be reduced by the same percentage as the projected revenue shortfall.
For personal planning, start with the records and estimates available for your own situation. Confirm that your earnings history is accurate, compare estimated retirement payments at several ages, and consider whether a spouse or family member could qualify through your record. The Social Security Administration’s calculator can help show how the claiming age changes an estimate. For a disability or survivor claim, check the applicable family and work credit requirements rather than relying on retirement rules alone.