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By Sarah Rivera-Epps Social Security District Manager in Olean, N.Y.
You can apply for Medicare online even if you are not ready to start your retirement benefits.
Applying online is quick and easy. There are no forms to sign, and we usually do not require additional documentation. We’ll process your application and contact you if we need more information.
Knowing when to apply for Medicare is very important! You must apply during your limited initial enrollment period. If you’re eligible for Medicare at age 65, your initial enrollment period begins three months before your 65th birthday and ends three months after that date. If you miss your initial enrollment period, you may have to pay a higher monthly premium. Visit www.ssa.gov/benefits/medicare to apply for Medicare and find other important information.
Some people who receive Medicare benefits may qualify for Extra Help with their Medicare prescription drug plan costs, including the monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and co-payments. To qualify for Extra Help, you must receive Medicare, have limited resources and income, and reside in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. Read our publication Understanding the Extra Help with Your Medicare Prescription Drug Plan for more information at www.ssa. gov/pubs/EN-05-10508.pdf.
The Medicare website has answers to your questions and other helpful resources including:
• What does Medicare cover?
Find out at www.medicare.gov/ what-medicare-covers.
• Where do I find forms to file a Medicare appeal?
Visit www.medicare.gov/claimsappeals/how-do-i-file-an-appeal
for more.
• How can I let someone else talk to Medicare on my behalf?
Learn more at www.medicare.gov/ claims-appeals/file-an-appeal/cansomeone-file-an-appeal-for-me.
• What do Medicare health and prescription drug plans cost in my area, and what services do they offer?
Check out www.medicare.gov/ plan-compare.
• Where can I learn more about a Medicare prescription drug plan (Part D) and enroll?
Visit www.medicare.gov/drugcoverage-part-d/how-to-getprescription-drug-coverage.
• Where can I find a Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy in my area?
Find the answers at www.medicare. gov/medigap-supplementalinsurance-plans.
If you did not apply for Medicare Part B (medical insurance) within three months before or after turning age 65, you have another chance each year during the General Enrollment Period. The period runs from January 1 to March 31 every year.
If you don’t enroll in Part B when you’re first eligible for it, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty for as long as you have Part B coverage. Your monthly premium will increase 10% for each 12-month period that you were eligible for Part B but did not sign up for it. Your coverage starts the first day of the month after you sign up.
To learn more about Medicare, please visit our Medicare Benefits page at www.ssa.gov/benefits/medicare. You may also read our publication at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-0510043.pdf.
Please share these helpful resources
with friends and family today.
Most people sign up for Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) when they’re first eligible, typically at age 65. It’s important to sign up promptly to avoid gaps in coverage or late enrollment penalties. However, if you’re already covered through an employer group health plan, it might make sense to sign up for Medicare later or delay Part B. If you are age 65 or older and receive Social Security benefits, you will be automatically enrolled in Part A.
1. When you’re turning 65: This is the “Initial Enrollment Period,” and there are no penalties if you sign up during this time.
2. After 65 and you’ve been covered by an employer group health plan: This is a “Special Enrollment Period,” and there are no penalties if you sign up or add Part B during this time. If you or your spouse have health insurance through your job, you can sign up any time while working and still covered by the group health plan or within 8 months of the day you or your spouse stop working, even if your group health plan continues for a time, or within 8 months of the group health plan ending while you or your spouse continue to work. Your coverage begins the month after you sign up.
3. When you miss the other periods (likely penalties involved): This is
As you make plans for your retirement, you may ask, “How much will I get from Social Security?” If you have a personal “my Social Security” account, you can get an estimate of your personal retirement benefits and see the effects of different retirement age scenarios. If you don’t have a personal “my Social Security” account, you can create one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount. A personal “my Social Security” account also gives access to the online Social Security Statement (Statement). In the Statement, a bar graph shows your retirement benefit estimates for up to 9 ages when you may want to start benefits. Many people wonder how we figure their Social Security retirement benefit. We:
• Base Social Security benefits on your lifetime earnings.
• Adjust or “index” your actual earnings to account for changes in average wages since the year the earnings were received.
• Calculate your average indexed
monthly earnings during the 35 years in which you earned the most.
• Apply a formula to these earnings and arrive at your basic benefit, or “primary insurance amount.”
This is how much you would receive at your full retirement age — 65 or older, depending on your date of birth.
Even if you aren’t near your full retirement age, you can plan for retirement now. If you are age 18 or older, you can go online, create a personal account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount, and review your earnings record to ensure it is correct. We compute your benefits based on your earnings record.
• You choose to get benefits before your full retirement age. You can begin to receive Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but at a reduced rate. We reduce your basic benefit by a certain percentage if you retire before reaching full
retirement age. You can find your full retirement age at www.ssa. gov/ benefits/retirement/planner/ agereduction. html.
• You’re eligible for cost-of-living benefit increases starting with the year you turn age 62. This is true even if you don’t get benefits until your full retirement age or even age 70. We add cost-of-living increases to your benefits beginning with the year you reach 62. Benefits are adjusted yearly to reflect the increase, if any, in the cost-of-living as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
• You delay your retirement past your full retirement age. We increase your Social Security benefits incrementally each month that you delay receiving benefits after your full retirement age until you reach age 70.
• You’re a government worker with a pension. In certain circumstances, we apply a different formula to your average indexed monthly earnings. This applies if you also get, or are eligible for, a retirement or disability pension from work for which you didn’t pay Social Security taxes. This work is usually a government job or a job in a foreign country. To find out how the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) affects your benefits, go to www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/ planner/ gpo-wep.html and use the WEP online calculator. You can also review the WEP fact sheet online or read Windfall Elimination Provision
(Publication No. 05-10045) to find out how we figure your benefit. Or, you can contact us and ask for it.
Question:
What is the earliest age I can begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits?
Answer:
The earliest age you can begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits is age 62. If you decide to receive benefits before your full retirement age, which for most people is age 66 to 67, you will receive a reduced benefit. Keep in mind you will not be able to receive Medicare coverage until age 65, even if you decide to retire at an earlier age. For more information, go to www. ssa.gov/retire.
Question:
I know that Social Security’s full retirement age is gradually rising to 67. But does this mean the “early” retirement age will also go up by two years, from age 62 to 64?
Answer:
No. While it is true that under current law the full retirement age is gradually rising from 65 to 67, the “early” retirement age remains at 62. Keep in mind, however, that taking early retirement reduces your benefit amount. For more information about Social Security benefits, visit www.ssa.gov/planners/ retire.
By Sarah Rivera-Epps Social Security District Manager in Olean, N.Y.
Social Security benefits are a crucial part of millions of Americans’ retirement income. If you don’t have enough Social Security credits to qualify for benefits on your own record, you may be able to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.
To qualify for spouse’s benefits, you must be one of the following:
• 62 years of age or older.
• Any age and have in your care a child younger than age 16, or who has a disability and is entitled to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.
Your full spouse’s benefit could be up to one-half the amount your spouse is entitled to receive at their full retirement age. If you choose to receive your spouse’s benefits before you reach full
retirement age, you will get a permanently reduced benefit.
If you wait until you reach full retirement age to receive benefits, you’ll receive your full spouse’s benefit amount, which is up to one-half the amount your spouse can receive. You’ll also get your full spouse’s benefit if you are under full retirement age, but care for a child and one of the following applies:
• The child is younger than age 16.
• The child has a disability and is entitled to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.
If you’re eligible to receive retirement benefits on your own record, we will pay that amount first. If your benefits as a spouse are higher than your own retirement benefits, you will get a combination of benefits that equal the higher spouse benefit.
For example, Sandy qualifies for a retirement benefit of $1,000 and a spouse’s benefit of $1,250. At her full retirement age, she will receive her own $1,000 retirement benefit. We will add $250 from her spouse’s benefit, for a total of $1,250.
Want to apply for either your or your spouse’s benefits? Are you at least 61 years and nine months old? If you an-
swered yes to both, visit www.ssa.gov/ benefits/retirement to get started today. Are you divorced from a marriage that lasted at least 10 years? You may be able to get benefits on your former spouse’s record. You can find out more by visiting www.ssa.gov/planners/ retire/divspouse.html for more information.
In 2023, an average of almost 67 million Americans per month will receive a Social Security benefit, totaling about $1.4 trillion in benefits paid during the year.
Retired
Social Security is the major source of income for most of the elderly.
• Nearly nine out of ten people age 65 and older were receiving a Social Security benefit as of June 30, 2023.
• Social Security benefits represent about 30% of the income of the elderly. *
• Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 37% of men and 42% of women receive 50% or more of their income from Social Security. *
• Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 12% of men and 15% of women rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income. *
*This information is from research released in 2021 using 2015 data. See this link for more information.
Social Security provides more than just retirement benefits.
• Retired workers and their dependents accounted for 76.9% of total benefits paid in 2022.
• Disabled workers and their dependents accounted for 11.6% of total benefits paid in 2022.
• About 90 percent of workers aged
21-64 in covered employment in 2022 and their families have protection in the event of a severe and prolonged disability.
• About 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-olds will become disabled and entitled to Social Security disabled worker benefits before reaching age 67.
• 65% of the private sector workforce has no long-term disability insurance.
• Survivors of deceased workers accounted for 11.5% of total benefits paid in 2022.
• More than one in eight of today’s 20-year-olds will die before reaching age 67.
• About 96% of persons aged 20-49 who worked in covered employment in 2022 have survivors insurance protection for their children under age 18 (and surviving spouses caring for children under age 16).
An estimated 180 million workers will work in OASDI-covered employment in 2023.
• 31% of the workforce in private industry has no access to private pension coverage.
• About two-thirds (63%) of workers report they are currently saving for retirement. Having an employersponsored retirement savings plan is a key factor in whether Americans save for retirement. Only 16% of those without access to an employersponsored plan said they have any retirement savings.
• In 1940, the life expectancy of a 65-year-old was almost 14 years; today, it is over 20 years.
• The number of Americans 65 and older will increase from about 58 million in 2022 to about 75 million by 2035. 1
• In 2023, there are an estimated 2.7 covered workers per each Social Security beneficiary. By 2035, the Trustees estimate there will be 2.3 covered workers for each beneficiary.
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