The Requirements for Social Security Eligibility Are Changing Next Year

A new year is fast approaching, which means that there will be some important changes to Social Security. Some of these changes primarily affect retirees or others who collect benefits, including the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and the rules for working while collecting benefits. Other changes, however, affect current workers and future retirees.

One revision that current workers must know about is a change to the requirements for Social Security eligibility. Specifically, there will be different requirements to earn the work credits that are necessary to qualify for retirement benefits.

Here's what this means, along with some details on why this could matter for you.

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How are the requirements for Social Security eligibility changing in 2026?

To understand the changes to the requirements for eligibility in 2026, you first need to understand how you become eligible for retirement or disability benefits in the first place.

Social Security retirement checks and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) are both earned benefits.

As you work, you have Social Security taxes withdrawn from your paychecks (or you make these payments directly if you are self-employed). Employees pay 6.2% of their wages in Social Security tax, and their employers match this contribution for a total payment of 12.4%. The taxes fund the program and give you the right to future benefits.

When you earn enough money and pay enough in Social Security taxes on your earnings, you earn a work credit that helps you to qualify for benefits. You can earn up to four work credits per year, and you need a total of 40 credits to become eligible for Social Security retirement income based on your own work history.

This is where the change comes in. In 2025, you could get a work credit by earning $1,810. Since you can earn up to four credits a year, you would need to make at least $7,240 to get the maximum credits for 2025.

In 2026, the amount you need to earn a work credit is going up. It will take $1,890 in wages to earn one credit, and $7,560 to earn them all.

So you'll need to earn a little more in 2026 than you did in 2025 if you want the upcoming year to be one of the 10 that you need to qualify for Social Security benefits. This increase happens most years as a result of inflation.

What can you do to make sure you qualify for benefits?

Your work credits are the key to qualifying for Social Security, so you'll need to make sure that your earnings are recorded correctly each year to get the credits you deserve to qualify for benefits. Having your earnings recorded properly also ensures that you get the right benefit amount, because that figure is based on your average wages over the 35 years of your peak income.

The easiest way to confirm that all your earnings were properly counted is to log in to your mySocialSecurity account and check your earnings record. This should show the amount that you earned each year so you can confirm everything is correct and accounted for.

If you don't already have an account, you'll need to provide some basic identifying information to create one. If you do have an account already and you see any errors in your earnings record, you can contact your local Social Security office to get the issue corrected. It's easier to do that sooner rather than later when you have pay stubs accessible and recent tax returns to prove what you've made.

Be sure to take care of that step this year as part of your retirement planning, and track your earnings in 2026 to confirm that they are high enough for the work credits needed to make sure Social Security is there for you as a retiree.

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