Life Insurance✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
Under Social Security, a worker under age 24 is 'currently insured' for survivor benefit purposes if the worker has earned:
Select an option to reveal the answer and the full 3-part explanation — free, no signup.
Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why B is correct
A worker is currently insured if he or she has at least 6 credits during the 13-quarter period (approximately three years) ending with the quarter of death, disability, or entitlement. For a young worker under age 24, this means 6 credits earned in the last three years — a year and a half of covered work — is enough to qualify dependents and survivors for certain benefits. This is a lower requirement than being fully insured, which generally requires 40 credits over a lifetime and opens the full range of retirement and survivor benefits.
Why the other options are wrong
- A) Forty credits over a lifetime establishes fully insured status, which is a higher standard than currently insured.
- C) There is no 12-credits-in-one-year test for currently insured status.
- D) Twenty credits by any time before age 60 is not a recognized Social Security insured-status test.
Memory hook
6 credits in the last 3 years keeps a young worker 'currently' insured.