1. Workers Who Don’t Have Enough Work Credits

You can’t get Social Security if you never worked. That’s a fact. Before you get a credit card or start looking for the best loan in America, know this!

According to the SSA, to qualify for these retirement benefits you need to have at least 40 work credits, the equivalent of a total of 10 years of work. More exactly, if you receive in 2022 one credit for each $1,510 in income, then you can earn the highest of 4 credits per year.

For those who earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, they will need 208.28 hours of work to get one credit toward Social Security. If this is your case, you can obtain the maximum credits per year by working 17 hours per week for 50 weeks at this income and still giving yourself a two-week off. This means that even part-time workers can collect credits without too much trouble.

It’s worth mentioning that earned credits never expire. Let’s say John has left the labor force with close to 40 credits and now he wants to get rehired. Anyone in this situation, John included, can go back to work to earn those additional credits they need to qualify.

Curious to find out how many credits you have? You can open a Social Security account on their website and download your statement.