How long does a person need to work to become eligible for retirement benefits?

Ken Hess: I like to review this question with people just so they get a real good idea that it doesn’t take that long to be vested for their retirement. I like to use the word “vested” because once a person has 10 years of work – it doesn’t haven’t to be all in one lump, it doesn’t have to be 10 straight years. What Social Security does is that we talk about a “quarter of coverage”.

That’s a credit, and this year it’s a $1,050 that gets you one credit. During the year you can get as much as 4 credits for 4 quarters; you have to have 10 years worth of credits… 10 times four is 40 credits. So, that’s how most people have heard, you know, how do you get insured for Social Security retirement, is that you have to have that 40 credits over your lifetime and once you have that, then you have minimum protection.

I like to throw the word “minimum” in there because your benefit is based on how much you earn, not the fact that you have at least the 10 years.

So, then we go in and we look at how much you have earned over your life time to come up with the calculation of how much your benefit will be. So, you can be covered for something, but your benefit is based on how much you have made over your whole lifetime.

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April 10, 2009 | Filed Under Frequently Asked Questions, Social Security Benefits 

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