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YOUR AVERAGE MONTLY PAY

TO CALCULATE average monthly pay, there are a general rule and three special rules. One special rule applies to the older workers; one applies to young people; and one applies to people who earn more than $3,000 a year.
 
General Rule: Add up all the pay you have received from jobs covered by the law from the time it went into effect, on January 1, 1937, to the beginning of the calendar quarter in which you qualify for benefits. Then divide your total pay by the number of months in that same period of time. (A calendar quarter is the 3 months beginning the first of January, April, July, or October of any year.) 

Example: Suppose you were 55 years old in 1937 and expect to retire in February 1947 after you are 65. All your pay from jobs covered by the law, counting from January 1, 1937, to the beginning of the quarter in which you retire——that is, until January 1, 1947——will be added together and divided by the number of months in those 10 years, which is 120. If you had been earning $1,200 each year, your total wages would be $12,000. Dividing $12,000 by 120 gives an average monthly wage of $100. If you were paid by the piece, so that you earned different amounts each week or month, they would be added up in the same way; and the total might be an odd figure——for example, $13,456.47. Dividing that total by 120 would give you an average monthly wage of $112.14.

Special Rules: A——FOR WORKERS WHO WERE 65 BEFORE 1939: There is a special rule for these older workers because the change in the law allowing credit for wages earned after age 65 goes back only to January 1, 1939.

If you were 65 before the law went into effect, your benefits will be figured on your average monthly pay from the first of January 1939.

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