Social Security and military service: credits, extra earnings, retired pay

Military retirees often ask whether their retired pay will cost them Social Security, and active-duty members often forget they are paying into Social Security at all. The short version: military pay has been covered by Social Security since 1957, you can collect military retired pay and Social Security at the same time, and some older service even earns extra credit on your record. The details decide how much you get and when.

I am on active duty in the Air Force, so I pay into Social Security on every paycheck like everyone else in uniform, and these rules will apply to me one day too. Everything below comes from the Social Security Administration's own documents, chiefly its publication Military Service and Social Security (June 2026) and its page on special extra earnings for military service. They are listed at the end so you can read them yourself.

You can get both

This is the first question for most retirees, and the Social Security Administration answers it directly: you can get both Social Security benefits and military retirement benefits, and generally there is no reduction of Social Security benefits because of your military retirement benefits. Your Social Security benefit is based on your own earnings record and the age you choose to start.

That matters because people sometimes confuse military retired pay with other government pensions. The agency's statement is about military retirement benefits, and it is the one to rely on. Your retired pay and your Social Security benefit are separate checks, from separate agencies, figured under separate rules.

You pay Social Security tax in uniform

While you are in military service, you pay Social Security taxes just as civilian employees do. For 2026 that is 6.2% on up to $184,500 of earnings, plus the 1.45% Medicare tax on all wages, and high earners pay an additional 0.9% Medicare tax above certain amounts. For 2027 the Social Security wage base rises to $192,300, according to the agency's 2027 fact sheet, while the employee rate stays at 7.65% combined.

Coverage has a history worth knowing if you or a parent served long ago:

• Earnings for active duty and active-duty training have been covered under Social Security since 1957.
• If you served from 1940 through 1956, you did not pay Social Security taxes, but the agency gave special credit for some of that service.
• Since 1988, inactive duty service in the reserves, such as weekend drills, has also been covered.

How military service earns credits

To qualify for retirement benefits you need work credits, and military pay earns them the same way a civilian paycheck does. In 2026 you receive one credit for each $1,890 of earnings, up to four credits a year; for 2027 the amount for one credit is $1,970. No one needs more than 40 credits, about ten years of work. Someone who serves a full career will usually have far more than 40 credits from military pay alone; the credits decide whether you qualify, while your lifetime earnings decide how much you get.

See the Social Security credits page for the credit amounts by year.

Special extra earnings for service from 1957 through 2001

Here is the part many veterans have never heard of. For active duty (including active duty for training) from 1957 through 2001, the agency adds extra earnings to your Social Security record. These extra earnings can help you become eligible or increase your benefit. The rules depend on when you served:

• 1957 through 1977: you are credited with $300 in additional earnings for each calendar quarter in which you received active-duty basic pay.
• 1978 through 2001: for every $300 in active-duty basic pay, you are credited with an additional $100 in earnings, up to a maximum of $1,200 a year.
• After 2001: there are no special extra earnings. In January 2002, Public Law 107-117, the Defense Appropriations Act, stopped them.

One condition can cut you out: if you enlisted after September 7, 1980, and did not complete at least 24 months of active duty or your full tour, you may not be able to receive the additional earnings.

Do you need to do anything? It depends on the years again. For active duty from 1968 through 2001, the credits were added to your record automatically. For 1957 through 1967, the agency adds them when you apply for benefits.

How much difference does it make?

Less than the dollar amounts suggest at first glance, and the agency is careful to say why: the additional earnings go into the earnings that are averaged over your working lifetime, not directly into your monthly benefit. A $1,200 bump to one year's earnings raises your average by a small amount, and the benefit formula then turns that average into a monthly figure. Our page on the benefit formula and its bend points shows how an average becomes a benefit. For someone near the edge of qualifying, though, the extra earnings can matter more, because they can help with eligibility itself.

Applying: have your DD-214 ready

When you apply, the agency verifies your military service. If your service increases your benefit and the agency cannot get proof of it, it will ask for your DD-214 or other proof of service before processing your application. The publication also says you will be asked for proof of military service (DD Form 214) or information about your Reserve or National Guard service. Keep a copy where your family can find it, since survivors may need it too.

When to start: the same choice everyone faces

Military service does not change the claiming rules. You can start as early as 62, with a permanent reduction, or wait. Full retirement age is 66 for people born from 1943 through 1954 and rises to 67 for people born in 1960 and later. Waiting past full retirement age adds delayed retirement credits until 70. Our full retirement age page has every birth year, and the guide to when to start Social Security walks through the trade-off.

For context, the agency's 2027 fact sheet puts the maximum benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age at $4,188 a month, and the average for all retired workers at $2,170 after the 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment.

A second career and the earnings test

Many people retire from the military in their forties and keep working for decades, which makes the retirement earnings test worth understanding before you claim early. If you start Social Security before full retirement age and keep working, the agency withholds benefits when earnings pass a limit. For 2027:

Military retired pay does not count against the limit: on its page about receiving benefits while working, the agency says it does not count pensions, annuities, investment income, interest, veterans benefits, or other government or military retirement benefits. And withheld benefits are not simply lost: the publication explains that once you reach full retirement age, the agency recalculates your benefit to give you credit for the months it reduced or withheld. The earnings limit page and the guide to working while collecting have the details.

Disability while on active duty

If you developed a disability while on active-duty military service on or after October 1, 2001, the agency offers expedited processing of your Social Security disability claim through its Wounded Warriors program at ssa.gov/woundedwarriors.

Medicare, TRICARE and VA care

If you have health coverage from the Department of Veterans Affairs or through TRICARE or CHAMPVA, the agency warns that your health benefits may change or end when you become eligible for Medicare, and it tells you to contact the VA, the Department of Defense or a military health benefits advisor. Do that before 65, not after: Medicare has enrollment windows and late penalties that do not wait for you. Our guides on Medicare enrollment periods and late enrollment penalties explain the deadlines.

Taxes on the two checks

Your Social Security benefit and your military retired pay are taxed under different rules. Part of your Social Security can become taxable on your federal return depending on your combined income, which includes your retired pay; the guide to how Social Security is taxed and the taxable Social Security calculator show how. At the state level, most states do not tax Social Security, and most do not tax military retired pay either, but the two lists are not identical. See which states tax Social Security and the guide to which states tax military retirement pay.

A checklist for military retirees

1. Open a my Social Security account and check your earnings record year by year, including your years in uniform.
2. If you served on active duty from 1957 through 1967, expect to ask for the special extra earnings when you apply.
3. Keep your DD-214, and any Reserve or Guard service records, with your retirement papers.
4. If you plan to work after retiring from the military, compare your expected wages with the earnings test before claiming early.
5. Before 65, contact TRICARE, the VA or a military health benefits advisor about how Medicare affects your coverage.
6. Check how your state treats both Social Security and military retired pay before you settle on where to live.

Rules and figures change every year, and these are the Social Security Administration's numbers for 2026 and 2027. Confirm your own case with the agency before you make a claiming decision.