Social Security

asharma22 · Post by **asharma22** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:40 am

Hello
I am newbie to this forum. Please excuse me if this question is already asked.
I am here in US on H1 since 2003. I have 32 Social Security points. I believe to get social security i need to have 40 points. I am R2Iing this year hence wouldn't be able to earn 40 points. I have two questions now.
1. Since there is no Totallization agreement between India & US. With my limited knowledge i believe i wouldn't get SS before i earn 40 points. Is there anyway i can get SS?
2. If i R2I now, Will i get 8 points if i somehow show some income(say ~ $5000/year) here in USA for 2 years?

Thanks & Regards
Amit

layman · Post by **layman** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:16 pm

asharma22;293493Hello
I am newbie to this forum. Please excuse me if this question is already asked.
I am here in US on H1 since 2003. I have 32 Social Security points. I believe to get social security i need to have 40 points. I am R2Iing this year hence wouldn't be able to earn 40 points. I have two questions now.
1. Since there is no Totallization agreement between India & US. With my limited knowledge i believe i wouldn't get SS before i earn 40 points. Is there anyway i can get SS?
[/quote]
That is correct. You will not get SS benefit unless you have 40 points.
[quote]
2. If i R2I now, Will i get 8 points if i somehow show some income(say ~ $5000/year) here in USA for 2 years?

Thanks & Regards
Amit

It is not easy to earn SS points by showing some random income.

sanjosedesi · Post by **sanjosedesi** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:02 pm

asharma22;2934932. If i R2I now, Will i get 8 points if i somehow show some income(say ~ $5000/year) here in USA for 2 years?

Please describe how ... keeping in mind
a) whether you will pay taxes in both India and US
b) whether you will be employed in India and hence have an income, or will this US income be the only income you have?

This line of questioning is not to give any answers (which I anyway don't have in this case), but to clarify the issues around the plan.

ss1122rr · Post by **ss1122rr** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:57 pm

get 1 6 month project and time it so that you are 3 months in 1 year and 3 in another. you just need about 2 or 3 months to get the 4 credits

sanjosedesi · Post by **sanjosedesi** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 5:09 pm

ss1122rr;293526get 1 6 month project and time it so that you are 3 months in 1 year and 3 in another. you just need about 2 or 3 months to get the 4 credits

Sounds like a plan.
And depending on your visa/project/income status, you can even do it over multiple years. There's no hurry.
I am going too detailed, but you can even do a 2 month project assuming it elapses the right months (for example, june and july) ... I think you need to make 700 dollars in a month or quarter for it to count as a full credit.

lravi · Post by **lravi** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:40 pm

There are two things that you need to consider:

1) Eligibility to receive SS benefits
2) How the benefits are calculated.

What you are looking at is only the eligibility. (Should have worked for at least 10 years and earned 40 points).

The benefits are based on the average of the highest 35 years of your earnings, where the earnings in a year cannot exceed the "Social Security Wage Base" limit for each year ($97,500 for 2007).

If you worked for less than 35 years, the earnings for each year that you did not work will be counted as zero when calculating the average. (Note: this will have a serious impact for "early" retirees.)

So if you have worked for only 10 years to get 40 points for the remaining 25 years your income will be counted as zero and the average pay for 35 years will be abysmally small. Of course something is better than nothing.

asharma22 · Post by **asharma22** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 8:30 am

I have couple of things in my mind...
1. Get some project and come for couple of months during the end of next year so that i can work here couple of months so that i can get the required 8 points.
2. If i add myself in my friend's business and he shows some profit on my name too. Will that work?
3. If i stay in India and get some project done from there and earn some income, will that work?

Thanks
Amit

dbs · Post by **dbs** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:17 am

asharma22;293849I have couple of things in my mind...
1.
2.
3.
Amit

Looking at couple of 3 points. is it correct to assess that you are considering some illegal/unethical options as well?

asharma22 · Post by **asharma22** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 8:56 am

Illegal NO... i was thinking of options within legal bounds....

Bharath786 · Post by **Bharath786** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:41 am

If we have earned 40 points and paid SSN taxes for 10 years, when we are returning back to India, is there a way to get back all the Social Security taxes that we would have paid during those 10 years ?. If we can get back the money even with fine, that would be great.

Is it possible at all ?

Please suggest.