President Roosevelt’s most important achievement was ushering in the Social Security Act of 1935. The purpose was to provide a safety-net that would protect and promote the general welfare of its citizens.
Social Security began as a social insurance program designed to provide workers 65 years or older with a continuing income after their retirement. To provide a safety-net for citizens in danger of falling into a permanent state of economic despair and to provide economic security for the elderly.
Social Security Benefits – Four Categories
As of 2023, the United States has four major categories of social security:
- Social Security For Retirement
- Social Security For The Disabled
- Supplemental Security For Severe And Permanent Impairments
- Social Security For Surviving Spouses
Social Security Retirement Benefits
Retirement Benefits is an earned benefits program that provides a limited amount of monthly income should you elect to begin collecting your benefits at the early filing age of sixty-two.
Should you wait until age 65, you will receive the full benefits you are entitled to. The higher your contribution to Social Security, the higher amount your monthly benefit will be.
Social Security Disability Benefits
Disability Benefits is a needs-based program available to people with a mental impairment such that they cannot make money on their own. The program provides the bare minimum allowance for food, shelter, and clothing.
Social Security Supplemental Benefits
Supplemental Benefits is a needs-based program that offers monthly payments to people of limited income and is 65 years or old, including children who are blind or have severe physical or mental impairments.
Social Security Survival Benefits
This program is for widows and widowers age sixty or older in which one of the spouses contributed to the social security and was married for at least nine months.
Life Events That Can Limit or Terminate Benefits
According to the Social Security Administration, the following events may affect your right to collect all or part of your Social Security benefits:
Getting Married or Divorced
The first circumstance is getting married or divorced. Either one changes the economic circumstances of your living situation and, therefore, your benefits.
If you receive your spouse’s benefits, your benefits will continue unless you get divorced and are 62 years or older – unless you were married for less than ten years.
Widows Benefits
If you receive a widow or widower’s benefits, your benefits will continue if you remarry someone 60 years or older.
Disqualifying Events That Will Terminate Benefits
If you receive any other benefits, your social security benefits will stop when you get married. Your benefits, however, may be restarted should your marriage end.
Arrest Warrants
Suppose you have an outstanding felony arrest warrant for fleeing custody. In that case, you will not be eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits for any month in which there was an outstanding arrest warrant.
Felony Convictions
If convicted of a felony and receive Social Security benefits, you will not be paid for the months you are confined. However, family members who are legally allowed to receive such benefits will continue to do so.
Suppose you violate a condition of parole or felony probation. In that case, you will not be permitted to receive Social Security benefits for any month you violated your probation or parole.
Living Abroad
Collecting Social Security Abroad: So long as you are a citizen of the United States, you can live abroad without it affecting your right to continue collecting your Social Security benefits.
However, if you were living in the United States as a non-citizen, then left the U.S. to live abroad, and later wish to return to the United States, you must provide evidence of your non-citizen status from the other country to receive benefits in the U.S.
If you work are authorized to work outside the United States, different rules may apply in determining whether you can receive your benefits.
If you are a U.S. citizen living abroad and returning to live in the United States, you must provide evidence of your U.S. citizenship to continue receiving benefits.
Locate A Social Security Lawyer
Should you have specific questions or require additional information about your legal rights and/or obligations, we strongly advise you to consult with a verified Immigration or Social Security Lawyer about your issues as soon as possible.
