Life Insurance✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
Under Social Security, a worker who becomes disabled before age 24 is 'currently insured' if they have earned how many work credits in the three-year period ending with the disability?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
A worker under age 24 is currently insured for disability benefits if they have earned 6 credits in the three years before becoming disabled. This reduced requirement recognizes that young workers have not had time to accumulate the 40 credits that fully insured status generally requires. Fully insured status, which most benefits require, is normally 40 credits, but the under-24 disability standard is 6 credits earned within the recent three-year window ending with the onset of disability.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) 12 credits is not the young-worker standard; it is closer to the credits required over a four-year period for workers in other age groups.
- C) 20 credits is not the currently insured threshold for a worker under age 24; the correct figure is 6 credits.
- D) 40 credits is the fully insured standard for retirement and full survivor benefits, not the under-24 disability shortcut.
Memory hook
Under 24 and disabled? Just 6 credits in the last 3 years. Youth earns a discount.