Life Insurance✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 1/5
To be currently insured for Social Security survivor and disability purposes, an individual under age 24 generally must have earned how many quarters of coverage during the last three years?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
An individual under age 24 is currently insured with 6 quarters of coverage earned during the three years before death or disability. The fully insured status, by contrast, generally requires 40 credits. Currently insured status is the more easily reached standard, and it matters for survivor benefits; full insurance is needed for retirement benefits. Credits are earned through covered work and self-employment.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Forty credits is the requirement for fully insured status, not for the lower currently insured threshold for someone under 24.
- C) Ten credits does not match the six-credit rule for individuals under age 24.
- D) Twenty credits is not the statutory threshold for currently insured status at any described age.
Memory hook
Under 24, six credits in three years earns currently insured. Forty credits is the fully insured finish line.