Month after month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends payments to certain beneficiaries, including retired workers. They must meet certain criteria to claim their checks, such as having a Social Security number (SSN), certain earnings, and credits.
Throughout one’s working life, a worker accumulates a record of earnings. SSA relies on the total yearly amount of a worker’s earnings to calculate the credits you need to claim payments. In 2023, the amount of earnings needed for 1 credit is $1,640.
According to the SSA web portal, a worker can accumulate a maximum of 4 credits per year. Generally, a worker must accumulate about 40 credits to receive any benefits, that is, around 10 years of work, but does time working abroad also count?
