Curriculum

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====== Social Security ======

[[American Expat Retiree Financials | contents]]

Social Security Administration (SSA) \\
ssa.gov\\
Social Security Number (SSN)\\
Social Security Card\\
Login via ID.me

Typically, renouncing U.S. citizenship does not automatically disqualify someone from receiving Social Security benefits if they have already earned credits for those benefits.

Social Security lawyers appear to work only on disability claims. I don’t see anyone working on foreign residency issues.

Not everyone has the discipline to save and invest to prepare for retirement.  That was the genius of the Social Security program.  It is a required retirement investment program for everyone who works.



=== RS 02655.001 The Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP) ===

https://secure.ssa.gov/POMS.NSF/LNX/0302655001

**SSA-7162-INST**\\
https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/ssa7162inst.pdf\\
The instructions for SSA-7162

=== SSA-7162 ===

https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/ssa7162ocrsm.pdf\\
The form is mailed to non-residents every one or two years, in May or June, and a completed form in reply is expected within 60 days.\\
Per Grok: Wait to receive the form. If you do not receive it, and are unsure about your situation, reach out to the SSA or FBU for guidance rather than sending it unsolicited. (Example: if you did not receive the form last year, or you have moved recently, you maybe should expect to receive the form this year.)

=== “Your payments while you are outside the US” booklet ===

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf\\
Section “Questionnaires”\\
Describes the mailing a questionnaire every 1 or 2 years which must be completed and returned. I assume this questionnaire is the form SSA-7162.

Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate

There are multiple benefits from the SSA: retirement, SSDI, SSI, and disability.\\
Mine are called retirement benefits.\\
https://www.ssa.gov/retirement


Program Operations Manual System (POMS)\\
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202605200


==== Web Interface ====

It is possible to deal with SSA via phone and postal mail, but of course much more convenient to use the web.

Branded mySocialSecurity.\\
For contact and login info, see [[SSA]] in the address book.

Things you can do on the website:
  * See the amount you receive and the next payment date.
  * Use the secure message portal to read statements and messages.
  * In December, read you COLA letter to see the calculation of next year's benefit amount.
  * In late December or early January, download the "initial" 1099  document
  * Review the deduction amounts for Medicare.

==== COLA ====

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

The percentage increase in benefits is calculated and published in December each year.
In Dec 2025, the amount was 2.8%.

You receive a COLA letter each December which informs you of your future payment amount, after the COLA percentage increase has been applied.

==== SSA-1099 ====

After your December payment as been made to you, usually December 3, they calculate and print your SSA-1099 document and put it in the mail.  This is also sent to your secure message portal on the SSA website, described as the "initial" 1099.  Normally you can download this document and use it with your 1040 tax return.

It is described as "initial" because there are rare circumstances where a person could incur charges or payments in the later part of December after this first printing, and this would require a "correction".

==== Statistics ====

Number of US citizens:

| receiving Social Security         |       50 million|
| residing abroad                   | 5.7 to 9 million|
| receiving SocSec outside the US   |          760,000|
| administered from Philippines FBU |           90,000|

==== Getting Social Security benefits if you are living outside the U.S. ====

https://www.usa.gov/social-security-abroad

=== Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States ===

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf\\
“If you are a United States citizen, you may continue to receive payments while outside the U.S. as long as you are eligible for payment and you are in a country where we can send payments.“

==== Foreign Country Service Information ====

https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/foreign.htm\\
A list of countries and the US Embassy containing the Federal Benefits Unit for each country.\\
For example:

  * Thailand and 40 other countries in SE Asia are supported by Philippines.
  * Portugal supports Portugal and 8 former colonies including Brazil, Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe.
  * Poland supports Poland, Russia, and 12 other countries.

==== History ====
Social Security was originally a retirement pension plan.

In 1970 the trust fund assets were stolen, and the system was converted to a Ponzi Scam.

The Social Security Act, passed in 1935, created

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) 

Social Security is funded primarily through payroll taxes called the 

Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA)

Self Employed Contributions Act (SECA). 



Wage and salary earnings from covered employment, up to an amount determined by law (see tax rate table), are subject to the Social Security payroll tax. Wage and salary earnings above this amount are not taxed. In 2026, the maximum amount of taxable earnings is $184,500.[10]


"pay as you go"