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Retirement & Medicare | |||||
www.socialsecurity.gov |
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Plan Your Retirement |
Qualify and Apply |
If you qualify... Apply for retirement benefits online |
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Find out if you're eligible for Social Security Benefits |
Benefit Eligibility Screening Tool (BEST) |
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Who is eligible for retirement |
If you were born in 1929 or later, you need to
have worked for at least 10 years to be eligible for retirement benefits.
If you're eligible for retirement benefits, some members
of your family also can receive benefits. |
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When you can retire |
If you were born before 1938, your "full
retirement age" is 65. Because of longer life expectancies, the
full retirement age is increasing for people born after 1938. You can start
your Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but the amount
you receive each month will be less than if you start at full retirement
age. |
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How your age at retirement affects how much you receive |
Use our online
Benefit Calculators to see how much you can collect at different ages.
Talk to a Social Security representative the year before you plan to retire--it
may be to your advantage to start your retirement benefits before you
stop working. |
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Retirement benefits and divorce |
If you are divorced
after at least 10 years of marriage, you can collect retirement benefits
on your former spouse's Social Security record if you are at least age 62
and if your former spouse is entitled to or receiving benefits. If you remarry
before age 60, you generally cannot collect benefits on your former spouse's
record unless your later marriage ends. |
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Benefits for children of retirees |
Social Security
Dependents' Benefits are payable to your unmarried children under age
18, or age 19 if they're still in high school, or to your children age 18
or over who were severely disabled before age 22 and who continue to be
disabled. Benefits can continue to be paid into adulthood if your child
has a disability that began prior to age 22. |
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Working after retirement |
Once you reach full
retirement age (65 for people born before 1938), there is no limit on
the amount you can earn while collecting Social Security benefits. Before
age 65, your payments may be reduced depending on the amount you earn. |
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Medicare and retirement |
If you're getting Social Security benefits when
you turn 65, your Medicare Hospital
Benefits start automatically. If you're not getting Social Security, you
should sign up for Medicare close to your 65th birthday, even if you aren't
ready to retire. |
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Leaving the United States |
If you're a United States citizen, you can travel
or live in most foreign countries
without affecting your eligibility for Social Security benefits. If you
work outside the United States, different
rules apply to whether you can get your benefit checks. |
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How to Apply for Retirement Benefits |
You can file:
When you file, please be ready to supply the information we need to approve your application for these benefits: If you do not have a birth certificate, you may request one from the State where you were born. See Where to Write for Vital Records for details on where to write in your State. Also, bring along your bank information so you can sign up for Direct
Deposit, and eliminate worries about lost or stolen checks or mail
delays. |
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For more details, see the publication Retirement
Benefits. |
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