Your Social Security

By DAVID BROWN  

Each year on Nov. 11, America observes Veterans Day and honors the men and women who have served in our nation's Armed Forces. Many of our Vietnam-era veterans are now in their late 50s or early 60s and are nearing retirement age. It is important that they - and other American service personnel - know just what retirement benefits they can count on from Social Security as they make their future financial plans.

Like most of the civilian work force, all current military personnel pay Social Security taxes and earn Social Security coverage. In fact, earnings for active-duty military service or active-duty training have been covered under Social Security since 1957. Also, service personnel who then had inactive duty service in the reserves (such as weekend drills) have had Social Security coverage since 1988.

The number of credits an individual needs to qualify for Social Security depends on his or her age and the type of benefit.

Any future Social Security benefit payment depends on a person's earnings, averaged over a working lifetime. Generally, the higher a person's earnings, the higher his or her Social Security benefit will be.

In addition to regular military pay, Social Security adds special earnings credits to an individual's Social Security record when he or she serves in the military. The extra earnings are for periods of active duty or active duty training. If, for example, a person served in the military between 1957 and 1977, he or she has been credited with $300 in additional earnings for each calendar quarter in which active-duty basic pay was earned. These extra earnings may help someone qualify for Social Security or increase the amount of the Social Security benefit.

And remember that Social Security is more than retirement. If a worker becomes disabled before reaching retirement age, his or her family may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits. Also, if a worker dies, the spouse and dependent children may be eligible for Social Security survivors' benefits.

If you would like more information, you can read the fact sheet, Military Service and Social Security, which is available on our Web site at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10017.html Or you can call 1-800772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778) and ask for a copy to be mailed to you.

Also, veterans and others who are within 10 years of retirement age should intensify planning for retirement. A. good place to start is with Social Security's retirement planner at www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/. It provides detailed information about Social Security retirement benefits and points out things to consider as you prepare for the future. You can use the calculators to test out different retirement ages or different future earnings amounts. If you are already near retirement age, you will find instructions on how to apply for benefits and what supporting documents you will need to submit.

Mr. Brown is District Manager of the Social Security Administration's Downtown New York Office.