Social Security Guides

• Feb 26, 2023

  Social Security Work Credits

  How do work credits work and how many do I need to qualify for Social Security benefits?

• Sep 12, 2023

  Possible causes of Parsing Errors

  SSA.tools accepts a copy and pasted earnings record from the Social Security Administration's website. This guide explains If your earnings record is not being parsed correctly, this guide may help you understand why and how to fix it.

• Sep 6, 2023

  Deep look at Spousal Benefits and Filing Dates

  Spousal Benefits are sometimes commonly misunderstood to be equal to half of the other spouse's benefit. This guide takes a deep dive into how spousal benefits are calculated and how different filing dates can affect the final benefit calculation in confusing ways.

• Aug 18, 2023

  Navigate the Filing Date Chart

  This site's calculator shows a information dense chart of how filing dates affect your benefits. The chart can be a little confusing at first, so here's a guide to help you understand it.

• Aug 11, 2023

  Will Social Security Run Out?

  And what happens if it does? Learn more about the Social Security Trust Fund, how it's slowly running out, and how what happens next could affect your benefits.

• Apr 29, 2023

  Bump in delayed benefits after January

  For those starting benefits after Normal Retirement Age, there is a small delay in some of the delayed credits until the following January.

• Dec 4, 2022

  Federal Taxation of Social Security Benefits

  A Comprehensive Guide to Calculating the Taxability of Social Security Benefits Based on AGI.

• Jun 26, 2022

  International Agreements

  How does working abroad affect social security?

• Jun 5, 2022

  Rules for those born on the 1st or 2nd of the month

  Learn more about how Social Security law is affected by the day of the month one was born in.

• Dec 28, 2020

  Why does ssa.tools use the current year's indexing factors for someone younger than 62?

  SSA.gov publishes estimated future indexing factors based on economic projections. Should ssa.tools use these factors and why?

• Dec 1, 2020

  The effect of AWI declining in 2020 due to Covid

  For earners who were born in 1960, the effect of a potentially much lower average wage in 2020 may have an outsized impact on their lifetime benefit.

• Nov 28, 2020

  Earnings Caps

  How do Social Security annual earnings caps work?

• Aug 3, 2019

  Maximum Benefits

  What is the maximum possible Social Security benefit that someone can receive?

• Nov 23, 2018

  Social Security and Inflation

  Learn how two different types of inflation, wage increase and consumer price index, each interact to affect your social security benefit.