KwY8UU.gif' alt='Federal Universal Service Fund Program' title='Federal Universal Service Fund Program' />How Social Security Works in 2. Social Security touches the life of almost every worker in America, yet few know how the program works. In practice, Social Security uses complex benefit formulas and detailed rules that make it difficult for people to understand the programs scope, its financing, how benefits are determined, and a number of other issues. This Backgrounder1 explains what Social Security is and how it works, in five sections. Felix Cat Desktop Pet on this page. Unless otherwise noted, all data contained in this paper come from the Social Security Administration. The individual sections are 1. Reasons Why the Universal Service Fund is an Out of Control Slush Fund And What we Should Do About it. The Universal Service Fund should not be increased. About FSRS. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act FFATA was signed on September 26, 2006. The intent is to empower every American with the ability. The Universal Service Administrative Company USAC is dedicated to achieving universal service. As a notforprofit corporation designated by the Federal. News, Photos and Information about Chicago Tribune. Popular Topics. Ask Amy. Eglin Federal Credit Union, also referred to as EFCU, was chartered in 1954 and is a notforprofit, memberowned financial institution. Membership includes. What Is Social Security Major Programs and How to Qualify. Social Security is a federal income security program that was established in 1. President Franklin Delano Roosevelts New Deal. As a pay as you go program, the payroll taxes paid by current workers are used to fund the benefits of current Social Security recipients. Although originally a program providing economic security to certain retirees, todays Social Security has expanded to provide a certain level of retirement income to almost all workers, certain family members, and survivors, as well as disability benefits. Overall, about 5. Social Security. Social Securitys Major Programs. Social Security consists of three programs that are administered by the Social Security Administration. Retirement. Social Securitys retirement program provides a lifetime monthly income for qualified workers once they reach their full retirement age. Depending on when they were born, that age ranges from 6. The amount of retirement benefits that a worker receives depends on his or her income while working. Workers also have the option of receiving a lower monthly income starting at age 6. Survivors. Social Securitys survivors program provides a monthly lifetime income to the surviving spouse of a deceased worker once he or she reaches retirement age. The amount of the monthly benefit depends on both spouses income while they were working. The survivors program also pays benefits to children under the age of 1. Unless they are disabled, childrens benefits end when the last child either reaches age 1. How To Uninstall Minitab 14 Software on this page. Disability. Social Security also pays lifetime monthly income to workers who are disabled and, in some cases, to their spouses and children under the age of 1. These benefits depend on a workers earning history. Qualifying for Social Security. Workers do not automatically qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. They must work and pay a minimum in Social Security taxes for at least 4. These 4. 0 quarters need not be consecutive. Currently, workers earn a credit for each three month period in which they earn at least 1,2. Once they have worked and paid Social Security taxes for the required 4. Social Security retirement benefits upon reaching the required age. Some members of the retirees family may also receive benefits. Depending on circumstances, those family members could include spouses, current and in some cases divorced children under the age of 1. Workers who have paid Social Security taxes for a certain number of quarters, depending on their age, may qualify for disability benefits if they pass away, survivors benefits could be paid to their spouses and any children under the age of 1. Disability benefits are paid to workers who are disabled for at least one year. In order to qualify, a worker must have paid Social Security taxes within a certain past period, depending on age and work history. Disabled in this case means unable to perform any substantial gainful work due to severe physical or mental impairment. Determination of eligibility is based on medical evidence and made by a government agency in the state in which the worker lives. Survivors benefits may also be paid to certain family members of a worker who died before reaching retirement age. To qualify, the worker had to have accumulated a certain number of Social Security credits based on his age at death. Depending on circumstances, eligible family members could include widows or widowers as well as surviving ex spouses, children, and dependent parents. In certain cases, there is also a one time payment of 2. There is no requirement that an individual be an American citizen to qualify for Social Security benefits. While employers are required by other laws to ensure that anyone they hire is either a citizen or a legal immigrant, foreign nationals authorized to work in the U. S. can earn Social Security credits with a valid Social Security number. Supplemental Security Income. The Supplemental Security Income SSI program is not part of Social Security. Even though the Social Security Administration administers SSI, the program is paid for with general tax revenues. No Social Security payroll taxes are used to pay for SSI, which helps aged, blind, and disabled people who have little or no income. It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. To receive SSI, a worker must be blind, disabled, or at least 6. Medicare. Medicare is a federal program that helps to pay for older Americans health costs. Some people incorrectly consider Medicare to be part of the Social Security system because taxes that finance part of Medicare are lumped together with those that pay for Social Security. However, Medicare is also financed by premiums and general revenue, and it is not administered by the Social Security Administration. Social Securitys Finances Social Securitys deficits are permanent and growing. In net present value terms, Social Security was estimated in 2. This number includes 2. Net present value is the amount of money that would have to be invested today in order to have enough money to pay deficits in the future. In other words, Congress would have to invest 1. Social Securitys promised benefits through 2. This money would be in addition to what Social Security receives during those years from its payroll taxes. Social Security is the largest federal spending program, surpassing national defense since 1. In 2. 01. 2, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance OASI Trust Fund, which pays for retirement and survivors benefits, took in 7. Excluding the interest, in 2. Additional deficits were suffered by Social Securitys disability program. Counting both programs together, in 2. Social Security spent 5. This deficit is in addition to a 4. These deficits will quickly balloon to alarming proportions. The Trust Fund Does Not Make Social Security Healthy. The existence of a trust fund does not make Social Security healthy. Although those assets are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the bonds it contains must be repaid using general revenue that would otherwise go to other programs. Similarly, the interest that Social Security receives on existing trust fund balances is not spendable income. It merely inflates the numbers in the trust fund and increases the amount that Social Security will eventually receive from general revenue. The only part that counts today is the cash that Social Security receives from the Treasury to cover its annual operating losses. Many opponents of reform claim that raising payroll taxes by about 2. Social Securitys problems. The reality is that the programs future deficits are projected to be both large and growing, so this tax increase would still leave a huge shortfall. Modest changes will not fix the current system. The Taxes that Pay for Social Security. Schools and Libraries Program USAC.