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Planning to retire? Enjoy your benefits from Social Security. This is a program formed to assure the retirement payments of workers and employees in the U.S.A. There are 96% of workers that are covered by Social security benefits.

The Social security Administration is the one in charge of this program. They have the task of implementing requirements, legalities, technicalities, guidelines, and other procedures in giving out the benefits.

Social Security replaces about 40% of an average wage worker's income after retiring. The money they give comes from the taxes that a worker duly pays from his earnings.

As you work and pay taxes, you gain Social Security credits. The credits depend on the amount of your earnings. You may receive a maximum of four credits a year. The number of credits you need also depends on when you were born. If you were born in 1929 or later, you will need to earn forty credits which is equivalent to ten years of working; you need less if you were born before 1929.

Before benefits are granted, you must first satisfy the requirements set by the SSA.

' You have worked long enough and earned sufficient credits

' You must be over 62 years of age

' You must have applied for the benefits

Social security uses your entire work history to determine your eligibility for retirement benefits.

Social security benefits are established on three important features: the member's current age; the age when the member will begin receiving his or her benefits; and the past income of the member.

A member has a choice of when to retire and when to receive his benefits. A person can start receiving benefits as early as 62, but the full-retirement age comes a few years later than that. Your full-retirement age depends on when you were born. If you were born before 1937, your full-retirement age is 65. For the workers born after 1937 and on or before 1960, the full-retirement age gradually increases until it reaches 67.

Eligible individuals may choose to have an early or delayed retirement. In cases where a worker decides to retire before or after his/her full-retirement age, his/her benefits shall be subject to an increase or decrease. If you choose to retire when you reach your full-retirement age, you shall receive your full-retirement benefits, but if you retire before your full-retirement age, you will receive reduced benefits.

If you work past your full-retirement age, you will get your full retirement benefits regardless of how much you earn. If you continue working and decide not to collect your retirement benefits until you reach 70, you will get an increased amount of benefits when you retire.

Before deciding when to commence your retirement benefits, you must first understand how it will affect the total benefits you shall receive for the rest of your life.

Sad thing about this is, by the time you decide to retire and collect your benefits; there is a chance that the SSA may not approve of your claims. Thus, it is advisable that you get a good Social Security attorney that can provide proper representation. A competent representative has the skills to address the complications that may arise in the process of filing.