1.	Your Social Security Benefits
2.	How to Qualify for Benefits
3.	How to Verify Your Benefits

In addition to collecting a nice fat refund, another good reason to file your tax return is to avoid potential problems with the Social Security Administration (SSA) regarding the receipt of your benefits. When retirement age comes and you apply for your benefits, they just might want to know where you’ve been for the past thirty years. Filing your tax return on a regular basis is the best way to document your whereabouts.

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The SSA operates on what they call the 'credit' system. In order to qualify for any retirement benefits, you need to accumulate 40 credits. For most of us, this means that you need to work at least ten years in the states.

A credit is roughly equivalent to a quarter of a year. Each tax year, the SSA sets a minimum quarterly amount of income. This income must be subject to social security taxes. For instance, in the year 1994, you needed $620 or qualifying income for one credit. You qualify for the maximum four credits if you earned at least 4 x $620 = $2,480. Thus if you worked your way through college, then you probably earned credits during those years as well. Refer to the chart below for the exact minimums amounts per quarter per year for 1994 - 2003. (1994 is the earliest tax year available that the IRS has its publications available on its FTP site.)

Note - If you are self-employed in Israel and are reporting your income and paying your self-employment tax, then you are obviously continuing to earn credits and benefits from the SSA.

You can request a social security statement from the SSA to verify your benefits. Do this by either filling out a form and mailing it in, or use their online form. It takes about four weeks to get your report.