14 Social Security Facts We Bet You Didn’t Know

Social Security is an important part of your retirement plans, but you may not know some things about your benefits.

It may seem counterintuitive, but starting to plan for retirement when you begin working will help you throughout your adult life. You should certainly pay attention by mid-career to make the right moves for a stress-free retirement.

Understanding the ins and outs of Social Security is a good place to start. You may be surprised by some facts you don’t know about it.

Social Security is an important benefit for retirees or older Americans, but some children may also be eligible for benefits. 

However, there are a few requirements. For instance, children must have  retired parents or parents with Social Security-eligible disability benefits.

If a child's parents are deceased, then their eligibility depends on the parent's length of employment as well as if they paid Social Security taxes. 

Some children over age 18 may be able to continue receiving benefits. Check with the Social Security Administration if you think you may be eligible.

You can start to track your Social Security benefits as soon as you’re 18 years old by creating a “MySocial Security” account.

You need to be 18 years old and have an email address and a Social Security number to keep an eye on your Social Security benefits. 

Through the account, you can confirm how much you’ve paid into Social Security and estimate how much your benefits may be at various retirement ages.

If your spouse passes away and you decide to remarry before you turn 60, you won’t be able to collect additional benefits.

However, if you're 60 years or older, you still may be eligible for spousal benefits whether you remarry or not.

If you plan to remarry, it’s important to review your Social Security and retirement benefits to see how that can affect your retirement income.

The full retirement age (FRA) isn’t the same for all retirees so it’s important to know when you can receive your full retirement benefit.

Your full retirement age is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, but FRA is lower for retirees born before 1960. 

While you can choose to receive benefits starting at age 62, the monthly payment could be as much as 30% less than if you wait to collect at full retirement age.

As you age, you may find that you need someone else to represent you in financial matters, including your Social Security benefits.

Just as you name a health representative through an advance health care directive, you can choose up to three people for advance designation with Social Security. If you can no longer manage benefits yourself, this person may be your representative payee.

Most workers are covered by Social Security, but some workers may not be eligible for Social Security benefits.

Some federal employees before 1983 might not qualify for Social Security benefits, due to the former Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) benefit program. CSRS was eventually replaced by the current Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). 

Thankfully, even if a federal employee stayed under the CSRS program after 1983, they should still have benefits via taxes taken out for Medicare from their federal pay over the years. Make sure to check with the Social Security Administration for any clarification. 

State and local government employees should reach out to their State Social Security Administrator. 

Choosing at what age to collect Social Security benefits will determine how much you receive each month for the rest of your life. 

If you collect as soon as you’re eligible at age 62, your benefit will be considerably less than if you wait until the maximum age of 70. And that amount will stay about the same.

You may, however, get a boost from the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) each year. 

In 2025, it should increase by 2.5%. This is a percentage increase meant to keep up with inflation.

In 2023, the SSA provided benefits for 71.6 million individuals with 5.8 million being new recipients.   

For Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which is not from Social Security taxes but general revenues, about 7.6 million people received on average $677 in January 2023. 

You may be surprised by how little you’ll receive per month in Social Security benefits even if you decide not to start collecting benefits until you reach full retirement age.

Social Security wasn’t meant to be your sole income in retirement. You need to save money for retirement now so that you have additional cash to supplement your Social Security payments later on.

Although lower than the national rate, 11.3% of adults over the age of 65 were considered to be living below the poverty line as of 2023. Eligibility for social security benefits could be a major factor. 

Women who are 65 and older are a major demographic when it comes to Social Security. 

About 1.5 million women received Federal SSI payments in comparison to 36% of men in the same age bracket in summer 2024.  

If your Social Security number was created before 1972, chances are the first three digits are the 'area numbers.' Although area numbers are no longer the norm, it represented the area or state where your Social Security card was issued. 

Those presently in the workforce pay employment taxes at a rate of 12.4% which helps fund benefits for current recipients. In 2022, the SSA had an income of $1.22 trillion in revenue with 90.6% from payroll tax contributions. 

You may be surprised that you may have to pay federal income tax on your Social Security benefits. 

40% of people may be subject to taxes on benefits if they have other income from wages, dividends, interest, and other taxable income. 

When you check your Social Security account, you may be surprised by how much you already have coming to you. If it’s lower than you think, you may need to consider ways to supplement your income.

As you approach retirement age, you'll need to create a budget that reflects your lifestyle when you finally retire. No matter what, knowing how Social Security benefits help you is the bedrock of your planning.