Benefits & Updates
Social Security
Retirement, spousal and survivor benefits, disability and SSI — what your work record pays, and when claiming changes it.
Articles in this category (19)
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How Much Social Security Will I Get?
What decides the size of a Social Security retirement check: your earnings record, your full retirement age, and the age you claim. Free estimate, no SSN needed.
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Social Security Spousal Benefits: Who Qualifies
A spousal benefit can be up to half your spouse's full retirement amount. Who qualifies, how divorce changes it, and why claiming early cuts it.
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Survivor Benefits: What Will I Receive When a Spouse Dies?
A surviving spouse can receive up to 100% of what the person who died was entitled to. What claiming age does to that figure, and when you may switch benefits.
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Is Social Security Taxable? What Decides It
Up to 85% of Social Security can count as taxable income, depending on your combined income. The thresholds, the senior deduction, and how to have tax withheld.
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Working While Collecting Social Security
The Social Security earnings test: the yearly limit before full retirement age, the higher limit in the year you reach it, and what counts as earnings.
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Social Security COLA: How the Annual Raise Works
How the Social Security COLA is calculated, when each year's increase is announced, who receives it, and why Medicare premiums can take back part of it.
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Social Security for Children: Who Can Receive It
Which children qualify for Social Security benefits, how much they can get (up to 50% or 75% of a parent's benefit), the family maximum, and how to apply.
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Check Your Social Security Earnings Record
Your benefit is built from your top 35 years of earnings. How to review your record in my Social Security, spot missing years, and fix errors within the time limit.
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WEP and GPO Are Repealed: What Changed
The Social Security Fairness Act repealed WEP and GPO. Who was affected, what changed, how back payments worked, and what to do if your benefit is unchanged.
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Social Security Payment Dates: Which Day Your Check Arrives
Most Social Security payments arrive on the second, third or fourth Wednesday, set by a birth date. See who is paid on the 3rd and what to do if a payment is late.
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Representative Payee: When Someone Else Manages Your Benefits
A representative payee manages Social Security or SSI for someone who cannot. See who needs one, what a payee must do, how to apply and how to report misuse.
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Social Security Overpayment: Waiver, Appeal and Repayment
Told Social Security overpaid you? You have 60 days to dispute it, no deadline to ask for a waiver and can ask for a lower repayment. Forms, tests and steps.
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How to Apply for Social Security Retirement Benefits
Apply online, by phone or in person up to four months before payments start. What to bring, the choices in the application and what happens after you submit.
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Divorced? How to Claim Social Security on an Ex-Spouse's Record
A divorced spouse can collect up to half of an ex's benefit after a 10-year marriage, without the ex having filed. See the tests, how much it pays and how to apply.
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When to Claim Social Security: 62, 67 or 70?
Claim at 62 and your benefit is up to 30 percent smaller for life; wait to 70 and it is 24 percent larger. How health, work, marriage and savings shape the choice.
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Retiring Abroad: How Social Security Pays You Outside the U.S.
Can you get Social Security while living abroad? How payments reach you overseas, where they stop, the six-month rule for noncitizens and what Medicare covers.
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How to Replace a Lost Social Security Card, Online or in Person
Replacing a lost or stolen Social Security card is free. Who can do it online, the documents needed otherwise, the limits on replacements and when no card is needed.
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Social Security Work Credits: How You Earn Them and How Many You Need
Social Security credits come from your earnings, four at most each year. How much one credit takes, and how many you need for retirement, disability and Medicare.
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How to Create a my Social Security Account and What You Can Do With It
Setting up a my Social Security account with Login.gov or ID.me, what you need to verify your identity, and the tasks you can then do online without a visit.