Social Security supports more than 71 million Americans, but for a significant segment of retirees, the stream of checks has permanently dried up. The Social Security Administration (SSA) reports that 2 million people, including 3% of those age 60 and older, are not receiving retirement benefits, depriving them of this critical source of income. All of this is due to strict eligibility requirements, unforeseen life events, and current system recommendations, and retirees are left to deal with the termination of their Social Security benefits. This fact underscores the program’s limitations and calls for improvements.
Why millions will miss out
For millions of retirees, Social Security benefits remain out of reach due to strict eligibility rules and unforeseen life events that disqualify them from the system. The Social Security Administration confirms that millions will miss out on these vital checks due to factors such as insufficient work credits and living in restricted countries.
Credits
Eligibility depends on earning 40 credits, a threshold that requires at least ten years of covered work. In 2025, one credit requires $1,770 in earnings, with a maximum of four credits at $7,240 per year. Retirees who fall short, whether because of short careers, part-time jobs, or work in jobs not covered by SSA, will not receive their benefits.
Key examples include federal employees under the pre-1987 Civil Service Retirement System, certain railroad workers with separate pensions, and some state or local government retirees whose jobs bypass Social Security contributions. These groups, locked out of the tax pool, receive no money in return, a policy that seals their exclusion.
Unanticipated life events
Life’s unforeseen circumstances also end checks for others. Retirees who die before age 62 cannot claim benefits, ending their access to Social Security money altogether. Divorced individuals hoping to collect on an ex-spouse’s record may also be denied payments if their marriage did not last more than 10 years or if they remarried.
Non-citizens and even legal immigrants will also see their benefits disappear unless they secure six U.S.-based credits or take advantage of totalization agreements with one of the 30 countries that have a totalization agreement with the U.S.
Glitches and Systemic Shortcomings
A recent SSA blunder raises the stakes. Last week, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, who are disabled individuals and low-income seniors who rely on up to $967 a month, logged onto the SSA website to find alarming notices: “This beneficiary is not receiving payments.” Payment histories disappeared, causing widespread despair. Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, called it unprecedented in her 50-year tenure.
But the glitch was fixed within 24 hours, with funds deposited as scheduled on April 1, and the SSA offered no explanation, leaving retirees like Chris Hubbard, whose disabled son relies on SSI, unsettled. Senators Warren, Wyden and Kelly called it “deeply troubling” for the nation’s most vulnerable in an April 7 letter. For retirees whose benefits are permanently gone, such errors increase their isolation from a system they once relied on.
Is DOGE to blame?
The end of Social Security checks for these retirees is not speculative, but already confirmed. While some may have salvaged their money by working longer or avoiding restricted countries, many may have had no such recourse. The SSA framework excludes broad swaths, late-arriving immigrants, workers in non-covered jobs, or those derailed by early death or divorce.
Even temporary disruptions, such as the SSI fiasco, highlight the razor-thin margin for error when money is at stake. As the SSA navigates potential changes under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has criticized the program as a ‘Ponzi scheme’, many retirees are at risk of losing their benefits.
Conclusion
For these retirees who did not accumulate enough credits, who retired on foreign soil, and who were struck by unrecognized life events, Social Security benefits have been terminated for all of them, and unfortunately there are no policy reversals currently promising their restoration.
Awareness offers the only shield, as understanding credits, verifying eligibility, or tapping alternatives like SSI for the disabled can prevent others from sharing their fate. Their confirmed exclusion serves as a stark reminder that Social Security, while vast, is not universal. As millions face retirement without these checks, the system’s gaps force a reevaluation of financial security at a time when every dollar counts.