To apply for retirement benefits in the US, You need to earn 40 “credits”. the equivalent of ten years of continuous work. The The maximum number of credits earned per year is fourone for each quarter. However, once you earn income that exceeds the value of four credits combined, which was $6,920 ($1,730 per credit) in 2024, you will automatically receive four credits for that year.

From 2025, the value of each credit will increase to $1,810 or $7,240 for all four. These amounts change annually based on changes in the national average wage index. The formula for calculating the increase looks like this:

This increase will impact low-income and part-time workers as they may not be able to receive the full four credits next year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average weekly earnings for private sector workers were $1,221.42 in November. This means that if you pay social security contributions, you will earn enough for one credit after just two weeks of work.

For more information, The Social Security Administration has a booklet that describes how credits are earned and how they apply to each aspect of Social Security.

Why Social Security Credits Matter

Several factors affect how much you can claim in Social Security retirement benefits. These are Your earningsYour highest annual salary for 35 years and the age at which you retire.

These credits are also used to claim Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). If you don’t have enough credit, you won’t be able to apply for disability benefitsThis contributes to more than 20% of disabled Americans living in poverty.

When a person dies who worked and paid Social Security taxes, certain family members may be entitled to survivor benefits. To be eligible for benefits, you must have worked for up to 10 yearsdepending on the person’s age at the time of death. Survivors of very young workers may be eligible if the deceased worker was employed for 1.5 years in the three years before their death.

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