Find answers to benefit questions online

What kind of questions do you and your friends ask about Social Security? When do my benefits arrive? What are Social Security work credits, and do they have anything to do with the way my benefits are figured? Read on:

• Social Security benefits are paid in the month following the month for which they are due. When you meet all the requirements for eligibility, the benefit check you receive is payment for the prior month’s benefits. For information on the payment of benefits, you can read our pamphlet “What You Need to Know When You Get Retirement or Survivors Benefits” at socialsecurity.gov/pubs/ EN-05-10077.pdf.

To know when checks will be paid, see the Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments at socialsecurity.gov/ pubs/calendar.htm.

• We don’t pay benefits for the month of death. Social Security uses the same throughout-the-month rule to determine eligibility for the benefit that is due for the month of death. You must live through the full month to be eligible for the payment. In the pamphlet above, go to the section titled “If a beneficiary dies” at socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN05-10077.pdf for more information about when a check is due.

• Work credits determine eligibility for benefits, but your lifetime earnings are used to calculate your month- ly benefit amount. Retired workers need 40 work cred- its to be eligible for benefits, but your work credits alone do not determine how much you will receive each month. When we figure your retirement benefit, we use the average of your highest 35 years of earnings. See “Your Retire- ment Benefit: How It Is Figured” at socialsecurity.gov/ pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf.