2.6M Seniors at Risk of Missing Social Security Benefits: Here’s Why

In America, there are 2.6 million 60+ people who will never receive Social Security benefits. If you’re counting on Social Security to help bolster your retirement income, you’re not alone.

Many of the 77 million current and future beneficiaries of this crucial support rely on it in their golden years. But not everyone can expect a monthly Social Security check.

Social Security statistics unveiled

The Social Security Administration (SSA) classifies 3.3% of Americans age 60 or older as “never beneficiaries,” which means they don’t receive SSA retirement benefits. This may lead you to ask yourself if you should be worried about your own eligibility.

To qualify for Social Security benefits, certain criteria must be met:

• You need at least 10 years of contributions to SSA taxes.
• During this time, you must accumulate 40 credits (up to 4 per year).

It is important to understand these so that your benefits are safe. Being informed and proactive is key to being able to take the steps needed to make sure you are covered when it counts.

To ensure you’re on track to receive SSA benefits:

• Check your Social Security Statement often to see whether your earnings and credits are correct.
• Plan for any potential gaps in your eligibility by consulting with a financial advisor.
• If you need to supplement your retirement income, consider other savings options.

Starting in 2025, to earn an SSA credit, you must earn $1,810 or more per credit, and you can accumulate up to four credits a year.

Your highest 35 years of earnings are used to calculate your eventual Social Security benefit. If you don’t work in any years, that’ll be counted as zero for the sake of your benefit calculation.

Understanding the “Never Beneficiary” Status

If you haven’t racked up enough credits during your working years, you can become a “never beneficiary” of Social Security benefits. This situation can be challenging, especially for certain groups:

Who Might Become a Never Beneficiary?

• Late-Arriving Immigrants: About 49% of never-qualified beneficiaries are older immigrants who haven’t garnered enough credits to meet the qualifications.
• Infrequent Workers: 38.9% of this group are individuals who have taken time off work, perhaps to raise children. For many of these individuals, it is difficult to accrue the needed credits.
• Jobs Not Covered by Social Security: Your employment is in a field that isn’t covered by Social Security, and you are in the 10.8% of never beneficiaries who won’t get any benefits.

Many state and local government employees are in a unique situation when it comes to Social Security. It’s not a disadvantage that these workers don’t pay Social Security taxes, though. Rather, they often receive a pension from their employer rather than Social Security benefits upon retirement.

And similar to railroad employees, Social Security benefits don’t apply to employees in the railroad industry. All they accomplish is covered by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), as long as they’ve worked more than 10 years.

Understanding Eligibility and Timing

About 1.3% of beneficiaries die before they receive any Social Security benefits. Keep in mind that you can’t start collecting Social Security until you’re 62 years old.

But to get your full benefit amount, however, you have to wait until your full retirement age, from 66 to 67, depending on your birth year.

What Happens If You Pass Away Before Claiming?

If you or a loved one dies at a young age before age 62, you won’t be able to collect on your Social Security benefits. But there are things in place to help families. Here are some key points:

• People with terminal illnesses may be able to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance.
• In difficult times, spouses and dependent children can receive survivors’ benefits.

You might not know that some people won’t get their SSA benefits. One of these includes US citizens who live in certain foreign countries.

In most cases, you can get your SSA check abroad, but there are exceptions. The bad news is, if you live in countries like Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan, you may be ineligible.

However, certain exceptions to these countries exist, but not for Cuba or North Korea. You can find out your eligibility using the government’s Payments Abroad Screening Tool.

Securing Your Social Security Benefit

Wondering how you can be sure you get your benefit? Here are a few strategies you might consider:

• If you don’t have enough to qualify when retirement time comes around, consider waiting until you have enough credits.
• You should also explore other benefits if you can’t work because of a disability, including SSI.

Divorced Individuals and Social Security Benefits

If you are divorced and you think you will not be eligible for your own retirement benefit, you may still be eligible for spousal benefits. For you to qualify, your marriage has got to have lasted at least 10 years, and you need to have refrained from remarrying.

Without having to tell your ex, applying for spousal benefits is a strategic move that won’t affect their benefits at all.

Eligibility for Immigrants

If your home country is one of the 30 that have a totalization agreement with the U.S., you’re still in luck if you don’t have enough U.S. credits. The benefit of this arrangement is that you can blend your U.S. credits with prorated benefits from your home country.

However, you have to have at least six credits earned in the U.S. If you don’t already have this threshold, just work long enough to get the credits.

Ensuring Your Social Security Eligibility

If you don’t know when you qualify for Social Security, here are some steps you can take to make sure you get it.

Steps to Secure Your Benefits

• Check your eligibility: First of all, go to the SSA website to see if you qualify.
• Use the SSA Retirement Estimator: This tool is very useful for getting an idea of how much you are going to get in retirement and how to plan for it.