Social Security Act of 1935
TITLE II-FEDERAL OLD-AGE BENEFITS
Old-Age Reserve Account
Old-Age Benefit Payments
Payments Upon Death
Payments to Aged Individuals not Qualified for Benefits
Amounts of $500 Or Less Payable To Estates
Overpayments During Life
Method Of Making Payments
Assignment
Penalties
Definitions
OLD-AGE RESERVE ACCOUNT
Section 201. (a) There is hereby created an account in the Treasury of
the United States to be known as the Old-Age Reserve Account hereinafter
in this title called the Account. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated
to the Account for each fiscal year, beginning with the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1937, an amount sufficient as an annual premium to provide for
the payments required under this title, such amount to be determined on
a reserve basis in accordance with accepted actuarial principles, and
based upon such tables of mortality as the Secretary of the Treasury shall
from time to time adopt, and upon an interest rate of 3 per centum per
annum compounded annually. The Secretary of the Treasury shall submit
annually to the Bureau of the Budget an estimate of the appropriations
to be made to the Account.
(b) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to invest such
portion of the amounts credited to the Account as is not, in his judgment,
required to meet current withdrawals. Such investment may be made only
in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or in obligations
guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United States. For
such purpose such obligations may be acquired
(1) on original issue at par, or
(2) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market price. The purposes
for which obligations of the United States may be issued under the Second
Liberty Bond Act, as amended, are hereby extended to authorize the issuance
at par of special obligations exclusively to the Account. Such special
obligations shall bear interest at the rate of 3 per centum per annum.
Obligations other than such special obligations may be acquired for the
Account only on such terms as to provide an investment yield of not less
than 3 per centum per annum.
(c) Any obligations acquired by the Account (except special obligations
issued exclusively to the Account) may be sold at the market price, and
such special obligations may be redeemed at par plus accrued interest.
(d) The interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of,
any obligations held in the Account shall be credited to and form a part
of the Account.
(e) All amounts credited to the Account shall be available for making
payments required under this title.
(f) The Secretary of the Treasury shall include in his annual report the
actuarial status of the Account.
SEC. 202. (a) Every qualified individual (as defined in section 210)
shall be entitled to receive, with respect to the period beginning on
the date he attains the age of sixty-five, or on January 1, 1942, whichever
is the later, and ending on the date of his death, an old-age benefit
(payable as nearly as practicable in equal monthly installments) as follows:
(1) If the total wages (as defined in section 210) determined by the Board
to have been paid to him, with respect to employment (as defined in section
210) after December 31, 1936, and before he attained the age of sixty-
five, were not more than $3,000, the old-age benefit shall be at a monthly
rate of one-half of 1 per centum of such total wages;
(2) If such total wages were more than $3,000, the old-age benefit shall
be at a monthly rate equal to the sum of the following:
(A) One-half of 1 per centum of $3,000; plus
(B) One-twelfth of 1 per centum of the amount by which such total wages
exceeded $3,000 and did not exceed $45,000; plus
(C) One-twenty-fourth of 1 per centum of the amount by which such total
wages exceeded $45,000.
(b) In no case shall the monthly rate computed under subsection (a) exceed
$85.
(c) If the Board finds at any time that more or less than the correct
amount has theretofore been paid to any individual under this section,
then, under regulations made by the Board, proper adjustments shall be
made in connection with subsequent payments under this section to the
same individual.
(d) Whenever the Board finds that any qualified individual has received
wages with respect to regular employment after he attained the age of
sixty-five, the old-age benefit payable to such individual shall be reduced,
for each calendar month in any part of which such regular employment occurred,
by an amount equal to one month's benefit. Such reduction shall be made,
under regulations prescribed by the Board, by deductions from one or more
payments of old-age benefit to such individual.
SEC. 203. (a) If any individual dies before attaining the age of sixty-five,
there shall be paid to his estate an amount equal to 3 1/2 per centum
of the total wages determined by the Board to have been paid to him, with
respect to employment after December 31, 1936.
(b) If the Board finds that the correct amount of the old-age benefit
payable to a qualified individual during his life under section 202 was
less than 3 1/2 per centum of the total wages by which such old-age benefit
was measurable, then there shall be paid to his estate a sum equal to
the amount, if any, by which such 3 1/2 per centum exceeds the amount
(whether more or less than the correct amount) paid to him during his
life as old-age benefit.
(c) If the Board finds that the total amount paid to a qualified individual
under an old-age benefit during his life was less than the correct amount
to which he was entitled under section 202, and that the correct amount
of such old-age benefit was 3 1/2 per centum or more of the total wages
by which such old-age benefit was measurable, then there shall be paid
to his estate a sum equal to the amount, if any, by which the correct
amount of the old- age benefit exceeds the amount which was so paid to
him during his life.
PAYMENTS TO AGED INDIVIDUALS NOT QUALIFIED FOR BENEFITS
SEC. 204. (a) There shall be paid in a lump sum to any individual who,
upon attaining the age of sixty-five, is not a qualified individual, an
amount equal to 3 1/2 per centum of the total wages determined by the
Board to have been paid to him, with respect to employment after December
31, 1936, and before he attained the age of sixty-five.
(b) After any individual becomes entitled to any payment under subsection
(a), no other payment shall be made under this title in any manner measured
by wages paid to him, except that any part of any payment under subsection
(a) which is not paid to him before his death shall be paid to his estate.
AMOUNTS OF $500 OR LESS PAYABLE TO ESTATES
SEC. 205. If any amount payable to an estate under section 203 or 204 is $500 or less, such amount may, under regulations prescribed by the Board, be paid to the persons found by the Board to be entitled thereto under the law of the State in which the deceased was domiciled, without the necessity of compliance with the requirements of law with respect to the administration of such estate.
SEC. 206. If the Board finds that the total amount paid to a qualified individual under an old-age benefit during his life was more than the correct amount to which he was entitled under section 202, and was 3 ½ per centum or more of the total wages by which such old-age benefit was measurable, then upon his death there shall be repaid to the United States by his estate the amount, if any, by which such total amount paid to him during his life exceeds whichever of the following is the greater: (1) Such 3 ½ per centum, or (2) the correct amount to which he was entitled under section 202.
SEC. 207. The Board shall from time to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the name and address of each person entitled to receive a payment under this title, the amount of such payment, and the time at which it should be made, and the Secretary of the Treasury through the Division of Disbursement of the Treasury Department, and prior to audit or settlement by the General Accounting Office, shall make payment in accordance with the certification by the Board.
SEC. 208. The right of any person to any future payment under this title shall not be transferable or assignable, at law or in equity, and none of the moneys paid or payable or rights existing under this title shall be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law.
SEC. 209. Whoever in any application for any payment under this title makes any false statement as to any material fact, knowing such statement to be false, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
SEC. 210. When used in this title-- (a) The term "wages" means all remuneration for employment, including the cash value of all remuneration paid in any medium other than cash; except that such term shall not include that part of the remuneration which, after remuneration equal to $3,000 has been paid to an individual by an employer with respect to employment during any calendar year, is paid to such individual by such employer with respect to employment during such calendar year. (b) The term "employment" means any service, of whatever nature, performed within the United States by an employee for his employer, except- (1) Agricultural labor; (2) Domestic service in a private home; (3) Casual labor not in the course of the employer's trade or business; (4) Service performed as an officer or member of the crew of a vessel documented under the laws of the United States or of any foreign country; (5) Service performed in the employ of the United States Government or of an instrumentality of the United States; (6) Service performed in the employ of a State, a political subdivision thereof, or an instrumentality of one or more States or political subdivisions; (7) Service performed in the employ of a corporation, community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. (c) The term "qualified individual" means any individual with respect to whom it appears to the satisfaction of the Board that- (1) He is at least sixty-five years of age; and (2) The total amount of wages paid to him, with respect to employment after December 31, 1936, and before he attained the age of sixty-five, was not less than $2,000; and (3) Wages were paid to him, with respect to employment on some five days after December 31, 1936, and before he attained the age of sixty-five, each day being in a different calendar year.