Social Security

Social Security
According to Investopedia, the definition of Social Security is, "A United States federal program of social insurance and benefits". Originally started in 1935 the Social Security program began with the signing of the Social Security Act. Social Security benefits were created to provide a "safety net" for the millions of people effected by the Great Depression. Today the Social Security program is one of the largest government programs in the world. Some of the benefits of the Social Security program are retirement income, disability income, death, and survivorship benefits, Medicare, and Medicaid.

One example of Social Security is retirement income which is as defined by BusinessDictionary, "The amount of money an individual earns after retiring based on retirement savings assets, Social Security allowances, pensions, stocks, mutual funds, and savings accounts". A recent article posted on SmartAsset suggests that for a person to get benefits out of Social Security retirement income they would want to have a high earning working experience of at least 35 years. Also if they were to claim their Social Security benefits at the earliest age (62), they would get significantly less money than if they waited till the suggested age of 65. For someone get the absolute maximum benefit out of their Social Security retirement income they could wait till they were 70 years old.

Another example of Social Security is disability income which is, a Social Security benefit that pays people who are not able to work or who have a severe medical condition that prevents them from working. Obviously there are many requirements and earnings tests to be an eligible candidate for the benefits. Sometimes family members can receive money from Social Security as well as the disabled person however there are more requirements to meet to qualify for that kind of benefit. The requirements vary depending on how old someone was when they became disabled. According to a Social Security Disability Benefits pamphlet if someone became disabled at 24 they would have to have worked consistently 1.5 years previous when their disability developed. The amount of working years required increases as you get older. Someone who became disabled at 30 would have to have more working years to meet the requirements for disability income benefits. For family members to receive money from the disability income benefits the disabled person must meet the above requirements and the family member must meet the following requirements: The disabled person's spouse is 62 years old or older, the disabled's spouse at any age is caring for the disabled's child who is 16 years old or younger, the disabled is single and has a child that is still in school, the disabled has a disabled child, and the disabled has a unmarried child 18 years old or older and developed their disability before they turn 22.