Social Security has many different programs and types of benefits, including retirement, disability and survivor’s benefits. Although many of the programs base benefit amounts and eligibility to work history, there are some instances where a person who has never worked can collect benefits.
One program that provides benefits to people, not based on their work history, is Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The SSI program is a needs-based program that provides benefits to the disabled and retirees if they meet the financial requirements. For an individual this requires a person to have less than $2,000 in assets minus some exceptions. These benefits are modest, the maximum monthly payment of SSI benefits in 2019 was $771 per month.
There are other ways to collect Social Security benefits, besides SSI, if you have not worked. You may also collect benefits on a spouse’s work and benefit record. The Motley Fool recently published an article explaining these benefits.
We just learned that Social Security benefits are calculated based on earnings. But even if you never worked and therefore don’t have an earnings record, you’re not necessarily out of luck. If you’re married (or were married) to someone who’s entitled to Social Security, you can collect spousal benefits equal to 50% of your husband or wife’s benefits at full retirement age.
Even if you did work, you can receive spousal benefits if your earnings were substantially lower than those of your spouse. Social Security will pay you the greater of your own monthly benefit or 50% of your spouse’s benefit. This means that if you’re entitled to $800 a month in benefits but your spouse is entitled to $2,000 a month, your $800 will automatically get bumped up to $1,000, or half of what your spouse collects. Furthermore, if you’re divorced, but your marriage lasted 10 years or longer and you’re currently unmarried, you’ll still be able to collect 50% of your ex-spouse’s benefits.
The more you read up on Social Security, the better positioned you’ll be to maximize those benefits in retirement. And that’s something your senior self will thank you for.
