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Although millions of Americans receive Social Security benefits, eligibility is not automatic. If you want to claim retirement benefits, not only must you be at least 62 years of age, but you must also have 40 quarters of coverage or credits. But how can you earn these credits, and what if you don’t get the full 40? Read on for more details.
Credit Yourself: What are the quarters of coverage?
Social Security is funded primarily by taxes paid by part-time and full-time workers. To qualify for your own benefits, you have to work and contribute your own taxes. The Social Security Administration (SSA) measures your contributions by quarters of coverage, and you need 40 quarters to qualify for retirement benefits.
In 2026, you’ll earn a quarter of coverage for every $1,890 spent, with a maximum of four credits per calendar year. This means your total earnings could be $7,560
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How long does it take to earn 40 credits?
Since you can only earn four quarters of coverage per year, you’ll have to wait at least 10 years before you can earn the 40-credit minimum. However, this doesn’t mean you have to work 10 consecutive years to earn those credits, or even that you have to work four quarters of the way each year.
Quarters of coverage are awarded strictly based on income, so as soon as you earn $7,560 in 2026, you’ll have already earned your maximum of four quarters of coverage for the year. This is true whether you earned that amount in months, weeks, or days.
What benefits am I entitled to if I don’t earn 40 credits?
If you don’t accrue coverage for 40 quarters, unfortunately, you will not qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. Even if you lose just a quarter, the SSA won’t pay you retirement benefits, which is why it’s important to keep track of your earnings records by creating and monitoring an online mySocialSecurity account. ssa.gov.
Although you won’t earn retirement benefits, you may be able to earn disability benefits with less than 40 quarters of coverage. The amount required to qualify increases with age. For example, if you are under 24, you only need six credits in the three years before your disability begins. But if you’re age 31 or older, you generally must earn at least 20 credits in the 10 years immediately before your disability.
Note that if you have a surviving spouse or children, you may also qualify for survivors’ benefits, even if the deceased has not yet earned a full 40 quarters of coverage based on their age.
Caitlin Moorehead contributed reporting to this article.