Social Security Bankrupt

Illinois Legal Help Senior Citizens Handbook - Financial Assistance: Social Security

Author: Prairie State Legal Services
Last updated: January 2014

(Chapter 1 Section 2 of the Senior Citizens Handbook)

What It Is: An insurance program that provides income to retired or disabled workers, their dependents and survivors.

Where to Apply: Social Security Administration (SSA)

Who May Be Eligible: Retired workers who are 62 years old or older, disabled workers, and spouses and dependents of retired, disabled or deceased workers.

How Social Security Works

Most workers pay into Social Security while they are working. Your pay stub will show deductions for the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA). These deductions are the money or "premiums" which you pay into the Social Security system. For every contribution you make to Social Security, the employer makes an equal contribution. The SSA then uses that money to pay people who are eligible to receive benefits.

To become eligible, you must have worked for a minimum length of time before claiming benefits. The length of time varies depending on whether you are asserting eligibility for benefits based on disability, your age at the time of disability and whether you are seeking retirement benefits.

The amount of money you receive from Social Security depends upon the amount of money you made while you contributed to Social Security and whether you choose to begin receiving retirement benefits at 62 or to wait until you reach full retirement age. Every so often, the SSA adjusts the amounts of monthly benefits to keep pace with the cost of living.

If you are found eligible for Social Security based on disability, you may be entitled to a retroactive benefit. In general, you are entitled to receive benefits going back to the first month following the end of a waiting period. The "waiting period" is the five month period starting with the first month in which you were both insured for disability and "disabled." The waiting period can start no earlier than the 17th month before the month you apply.

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