Dear Rusty: Please help. I served from 1964-1966 in the US Army. I have been trying to contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) to request extra benefits for veterans. The telephone is a recording, and you never get to speak to anyone. The web site (www.ssa.gov) is useless to me. I went to the Social Security (SS) office and there was a huge line outdoors in the freezing cold. I am disabled and cannot stand on a line in this cold. Please advise me about my options. Financially, is it worth the trouble?

Signed: Disabled American Veteran

Dear Disabled Veteran: My profound thanks for your service to our country. FYI, the “special extra credit for military service” you refer to does not provide an incremental Social Security benefit amount for military veterans. Rather, it adds an additional amount to your recording earnings for the years you served, which may affect your Social Security benefit.

In your case (serving between 1964 and 1966), if you told the SSA of your military service when you applied for benefits (or gave it a copy of your DD-214), it would have added up to $1,200 per year to your recorded military pay record (FYI, those who served after 1967 were automatically given earnings credit for their military service years). However, whether those special extra credits would affect your SS benefit depends on what your lifetime earnings record was when you later claimed SS. When you applied for benefits, the SSA reviewed your lifetime earnings record and used the highest-earning 35 years of earnings over your lifetime (adjusted for inflation) to calculate your “primary insurance amount” (or PIA), which is what you get if you claim benefits to start at your SS full retirement age. If, after your military service, you had 35 or more years of earnings which were higher than what you earned while serving, the SSA would have used those later higher earnings to calculate your benefit, and your military earnings wouldn’t affect your benefit. If, however, any of your military earnings (including the special extra credits) were among the highest over your lifetime, then those higher military earnings would be included when calculating your benefit.

So, whether you will benefit from these special extra credits for military service depends largely on your post-service earnings history. If your military earnings were among the highest-earning years over your lifetime, and you provided SSA with a copy of your DD-214 when you applied for Social Security, then your current SS benefit already includes consideration of your military service. The SSA should have asked about your military service when you applied. If you didn’t advise the agency of your military service when you applied for Social Security, or if you aren’t sure, you should contact the SSA at (800) 772-1213 and ask if you were given those special extra credits for military service when you applied. However, if you had at least 35 years of higher earnings after you left military service, your current SS benefit is already based on those later higher-earning years, and you will not get anything additional from those special extra credits for your military service years.

FYI, we know it is often difficult to contact the Social Security Administration by phone, as well as trying to visit SSA offices without an appointment (which is why our AMAC Foundation provides this free service). SSA is now allowing in-person visits “by appointment only” and you can call the above number to schedule an in-person appointment at your local SSA office. But before you do, please consider what I’ve said above. And remember that your SS benefit is based on the highest-earning 35 years over your entire lifetime and each year represents only 1/35th of your benefit amount. So, is it worth the trouble? That depends on whether your military earnings, including the special extra credits for military service, are among the highest over your entire lifetime. If the answer is “yes” then it is likely worth it; if “no,” then perhaps not.                                

Russell Gloor is a national Social Security advisor at the AMAC Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC). The 2.4-million-member AMAC says it is a senior advocacy organization. Send your questions to: ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.

 Author’s note: This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained, and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). The NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity.