Q: You said veterans get an extra $300 per month from Social Security. I don't get that. Are you sure about this?

Q: Your recent column mentioned a military bonus. I don't think I'm getting it. Will you please look into my Social Security files to check this out?

Q: Can you please send me the form to apply for that military benefit you mentioned in your column?

Q: I'm 90 years old. I've been on Social Security for 30 years and no one ever told me about a military bonus. Where do I get it?

A: Wow! I set a new record with a recent column I wrote about military service and Social Security. I got more letters from more people with more confusing questions than I've ever received about any other column I've written in the past ten years!

Most of the questions were similar to those listed above – essentially asking: “How do I get this special military bonus?”

I find that so interesting because the message I thought I was delivering in that prior column is that there is no bonus! I wrote that there are special “earnings credits” added to the Social Security records of many veterans and that those credits usually result in little or no payoff in the monthly Social Security benefits of those vets.

Here are the most important points my readers need to understand about this issue.

1. There is no Social Security “bonus” for veterans. If you served in the military, you merely get some extra earnings added to your Social Security files.

2. Those extra earnings are automatically added to a veteran's Social Security record. There is nothing you need to do to apply for them. When you sign up for Social Security retirement benefits, the extra military earnings will be factored into your Social Security benefit computation.

3. I am a Social Security columnist, not a Social Security Administration employee. Many of my readers know that I am a retired SSA employee, but “retired” is the key word. If you want someone to check your Social Security record, or send you some forms, you need to contact an SSA representative, not me. You can reach SSA at 800-772-1213 or online at www.socialsecurity.gov.

Now, let's once again go over the basics of what happens to the Social Security record of someone who has served in the military.

Military personnel have been paying into Social Security (i.e., having Social Security taxes deducted from their basic pay) since 1956.

If you served in the military before then, you did not pay into Social Security. But the government adds $160 to your Social Security earnings record for any month you were in the service between 1940 and 1956. You get these extra earnings credits IF you were honorably discharged and IF no other government agency is using that time in the military to pay you another federal benefit.

If you served in the military from 1957 through 1977, the government adds an extra $300 to your Social Security earnings record for each calendar quarter you served. This is on top of your basic pay earnings that are already on your Social Security record because you paid taxes on those earnings.

If you served in the military from 1978 through 2001, the government adds an extra $100 to your Social Security earnings record for each $300 in basic pay you had, not to exceed $1,200 per year.

If you served in the military after 2001, no extra earnings credits are added to your Social Security record.

So, once again, depending on the years of your military service, a small amount of extra earnings may be added to your Social Security record. Then when you retire, those extra earnings will be automatically factored into your Social Security computation. But because your retirement benefit is based on your highest 35 years of earnings (usually hundreds of thousands of dollars or more), the relatively small amount of extra military credits ($100 here or $160 there) has little if any impact on your Social Security check. It's like adding a few drops of water to a rain barrel.

To find out more about Tom Margenau and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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