Smyrna times., 1955-01-13
S. S. INCLUDES
MORE PEOPLE
Lowering of Age Restrictions
on Earnings from rs
to 72 Years of Age
EFFECTIVE JANUARY l

Live aaAN LII q AA0hAPNA VI
ant provisions in the 1854 Amend
ments to the Social Security Act.
Myron Milbouer, manager of the
Wilmington social security Office,
said today that people in this area
should know how they are affect
ed by these changes, which were
signed into law by the President
last year on September /.
About six million more workers
were automatically covered by So
cial security on that date; ap-
proximately four million more
may be brought under social Sc
curity on an elective basis. Earn
ings up to $4,000 received in a |
year are starting to count toward
future benefit payments, and
Beneficiary may get all his in
surance benefit payments while
earning as high as $1,000 yearly.
Applications for the new disabili-
ty 1freeze" could be made begin
ming with january 3, first busi-
ness day of the new year.
Milbouer pointed out that nine
out of ten persons who work for
a living are now in employment
or self-employment that counts
toward future benefit payments;
coverage is nearly universal.
The largest group of gainfully-
employed people in the nation not
heretofore covered by social Sc
curity has now been brought in
the 3.6 million self-employed farm
operators. Commencing January l,
these farm operators are covered
on the same terms as other self
employed people, except for spec
ial provisions under certain con-
ditions for figuring the amount
of their net annual earnings.
A change in the old require
ment that farm workers be reg
ularly employed by one employer
means that over two million ad-
ditional farm employees will start
earning social security protection
for themselves and their families
in 1855. The new provision only
requires that the farm hand be
paid at least $106 in cash wages
in a calendar year by one EN-
ployer.
About 100000 more domestic
employees in private households
are covered by the amended law
because of the removal of the ear
lier requirement that the domestic
employee work "a days in each
calendar quarter in any one house
hold. Now the requirement, begin
ming January 1, is the payment
of $50 or more cash wages by
one household employer in a CAL
endar quarter.
About 3.500,OOO employees of
state and local government, ex-
cluded up to now because they
are under retirement system,
may now be brought under social
security if they elect coverage by
a referendum. And members of
the clergy, whether employed or
self-employed, may come under
the law as if they were self-em-
ployed persons.
Other self-employed groups COW
cred for the first time by social
security as of Jan. 1, 1855, are
professional engineers, account
ants, architects, and funeral di-
rectors.
OF special significance to per-
sons in work which came under
social security for the first time
on Jan. is provision in the
amended law which will enable
those who are newly covered tc
achieve a fully insured status
quickly. BY working continuously
they may become insured as early
as the second quarter of 1856.
Since earnings of newly-covereC
workers must be averaged from
the beginning of 1851, just like
earnings of persons already il
work covered by social security
their four years of non-covereC
employment or self-employmen
would cut down their averag,
monthly earnings for figurin!
their benefit amount were it no
for a special provision in tn
amended law. This provision
known as the "drop-out", permit
the elimination of the four year
of non-covered employment. TIL
"drop-out" in effect places tn
newly-covered groups in a posi-
tion comparable to that of tn
groups that became newly cover
ed in 1851, with respect to tn
figuring of the benefit amount.
OF special Importance to per
sons already ON the insuranc