Social Security is also pretty darn complicated and difficult for many working and older Americans to fully understand. With this is mind, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a closer look at 30 of the most stunning Social Security statistics in the hope of better explaining Social Security's importance and how it works, from a visual perspective.
1. 41.51 million
While Social Security is paying out benefits to more than 61 million people each month, its primary task, and why it was conceived in the mid-1930s, is to provide income to retired workers. As of February 2017, 41.51 million, two-thirds of those 61 million beneficiaries, were retired workers.
2. 40 credits
To qualify for Social Security benefits when you retire, you need to have collected 40 lifetime work credits. You can earn a maximum of four credits per year, meaning you'll have had to have worked at least 10 years during your lifetime to qualify based on your own work and earnings history.
