To qualify for retirement benefits as a salaried employee, a worker must:

• •

  be at least age 65 (men) or age 60 (women);

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  have made at least 10 years of contributions; and

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  must cease all gainful activity; and

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  be contributing at the date of attainment of retirement age, or attain this age within 2 years following the year in which they last made contributions.

  There are no provisions for early retirement. There are no benefits payable to the spouse or children of the retired worker.

To qualify for retirement benefits as a wage earner:

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  men must be at least age 65 and women age 60;

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  men must have either 20 years of contributions or 800 weeks of contributions and women must have 10 years of contributions; and

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  men and women must contribute in one-half of the weeks since initial coverage.

There are no provisions for early retirement. There are no benefits payable to the spouse or children of the retired worker.

To qualify for retirement benefits as a public employee or journalist:

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  men must be at least age 65 with 10 years of contributions;

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  women age 60 with 10 years of contributions; and

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  must be contributing at the date on which they reach retirement age.

There are no provisions for early retirement. There are no benefits payable to the spouse or children of a retired worker.

To qualify for disability benefits salaried employees must:

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  be under retirement age;

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  have an impairment that reduces earnings capacity by 67 percent;

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  must have a minimum of 3 years of contributions; and

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  be contributing at the time of disability onset or no more than 2 years have elapsed since the date of the last contribution.

To qualify for disability benefits wage earners must:

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  be younger than age 65 (men) or younger than age 60 (women);

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  be totally or partially disabled;

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  must have made a minimum contributions of 50 weeks, 40 percent of the contributions during the 5 years preceding disability onset; and

NOTE: Women are exempt from the third requirement. All wage earners with more than 400 weeks of contributions are exempt from both the second and third requirements.

To qualify for disability benefits public employees and journalists must:

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  be younger than age 65 (men) or younger than age 60 (women);

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  be totally or partially disabled;

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  must have 10 years of contributions; and

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  must be contributing at the date of disability onset.

1. 1. 

   Salaried employees, public employees, and journalists

   Eligibility requirements for survivor benefits are the same for salaried and public employees and journalists. The requirements for the deceased worker are:

   • •

     entitlement to retirement or disability benefit at the time of death, or

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     minimum of three years of contributions and died while contributing, or

   • •

     death within two years following the date the deceased last contributed.

     The following persons may be eligible for survivor benefits:

     • •

       r disabled spouse or the individual who was married to the Number Holder (NH);

     • •

       child under age 18, age 24 if a student, or any age if disabled;

     • •

       financially dependent unmarried parent of the worker's biological children; and

     • •

       the worker's dependent parents or grandparents.

2. 2. 

   Wage earners

   The deceased worker must have:

   • •

     been receiving a retirement or disability benefit at the time of death; or

   • •

     at least 400 weeks of paid coverage; or

   • •

     made a minimum of 50 weeks of contributions in at least one-half of the period since initial coverage; and

   • •

     made contributions in 40 percent of the weeks over the 5-year period immediately preceding death.

   The following persons may be eligible:

   • •

     spouse

   • •

     financially dependent disabled spouse ;

   • •

     child under age 18, age 24 if a student, and any age if disabled; and

   • •

     financially dependent unmarried parent of the worker's biological children.