The Social Security Retirement Program, begun in 1933, was designed as a financial “safety net” for retired workers and their families. There are four major segments: Retirement, Disability and SSI, Survivors Benefits, and Medicare.

Retirement
When people reach retirement age, the income from Social Security is the major source of income for seniors and the entire source of income for one out of five seniors. About 95 percent of all workers are covered by Social Security. The benefit comes from Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) funds through the federal government.
To qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, a worker must have earned 40 credits, calculated as follows.
One credit for each $1,000 earned in covered employment, for a maximum of four credits per year ($4,000) Four credits per year for 10 years equals 40 credits: the worker is “fully insured”.
When a worker reaches full retirement age, he or she can receive full retirement benefits. The full retirement age used to be 65, but now it varies based upon the year of your birth.
You can collect reduced retirement benefits as early as age 62 (with 40 credits), or, if you begin collecting benefits later than your full retirement age, they will be increased slightly.

Non-work sources of income, such as: Inheritance payments, Pensions, Income from investments, IRA distributions, Interest, or other sources do NOT count as wages for the earnings test.