4 Ways To Get Social Security Benefits If You Didn’t Work Long Enough To Qualify

Social Security benefits accrue over a person’s working lifetime in the form of credits you earn based on how many hours and years you’ve worked. To qualify for retirement benefits , anyone born in 1929 or later needs 40 credits — or ten years of work — to be eligible, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

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As of 2024, you earn one credit for each $1,730 you earn, with a maximum of four credits per year. This applies whether you are employed by someone or self-employed. Every year the amount of earnings you need to earn credits goes up slightly to stay on par with inflation and cost of living increases.

If you find yourself in the position of not having worked long enough, or at all, to qualify for as much Social Security — or any — what can you do to get those retirement benefits? On the plus side, you don’t lose credits you’ve already earned, even if you’ve stopped working.

While there’s no perfect solution, there are circumstances under which you can still qualify for some Social Security benefits .

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Spousal Benefits

Social Security is an area where being married, or having been married, can work to your benefit — literally.

As a way to try to correct for the fact that some married spouses take time off work, or don’t work, to do such things as raising children or supporting their working spouse domestically, Social Security takes into account the retirement needs of a non-working spouse. When a worker files for retirement benefits, the worker’s spouse may also be eligible for a Social Security benefit that is based on the working spouse’s earnings.

That amount is typically less, sometimes as much as half, of the worker’s “primary insurance amount,” and it depends upon both the spouse and the worker’s ages at retirement. To obtain this benefit, the spouse needs to be at least 62 years old or be responsible for the care of a qualifying dependent child who is under the age of 16 or who receives Social Security disability benefits.

If this same spouse did not earn 40 credits for full retirement benefits, but did earn some, they will receive either their own benefit or around half the spousal benefit, whichever is higher.

If you did not earn any credits, and therefore are not entitled to retirement benefits on your own working record, you can qualify for 50% of your spouse’s primary insurance amount.

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Survivor’s Benefits for Spouses

In the sad situation that a married person loses a spouse to death, the surviving spouse may be eligible for Social Security through survivor’s benefits. The deceased spouse needs to have worked for 10 years — earning those 40 credits — ideally, though there may be some exception for survivors if their deceased spouse worked for a year and a half during the three years before their death.

If your spouse earned the full 40 credits before their death, you may be entitled to their full benefits at your full retirement age or reduced benefits as early as you turn 60.

If you are a surviving spouse of any age but you are also a caregiver or parent of the deceased’s child, who is younger than 16 or who has a disability, you may receive full survivor’s spousal benefits before the age of 60.

Survivor’s Benefits for Children, Parents and Others

Other people who may qualify for survivor’s benefits can include the deceased’s unmarried children who are under the age of 18 — or up to age 19 if they’re attending school full time — occasionally stepchildren and grandchildren, and/or dependent parents who are age 62 or older.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

A final way that you may qualify for retirement benefits is if you have or acquire a disability that prevents you from working. This is known as Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

To qualify, you need to have little or no income — as of 2024, the cutoff in earnings is no more than $1,971 per month for an individual, but it increases for couples and for parents who apply on behalf of their children.

The income guidelines for SSI are very tight and include not only earned income, but other sources of income such as disability benefits, owned assets such as a car or a home, unemployment funds and pensions.

Adults and children might be eligible for SSI if they have no more than $2,000 in assets for individuals or $3,000 for couples. For parents applying for their child, these figures increase to $4,000 and $5,000.

For those ages 64 or younger, who can prove they’ve earned less than $1,550 in the month they apply, their disability has to meet certain criteria, such as:

• Affecting your ability to work for a year or more
• Will result in death
• Severely limits daily activity, for children with disabilities.

By the time you’re 65, you don’t need to have a disability to qualify for SSI.

While none of these circumstances are ideal, it’s good to know that there are still some possible ways to earn Social Security benefits if you haven’t been able to work the way you hoped.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 4 Ways To Get Social Security Benefits If You Didn’t Work Long Enough To Qualify