[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 2]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR404.201]

[Page 69-70]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
               CHAPTER III--SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 404_FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950	 )
--Table of Contents
 
              Subpart C_Computing Primary Insurance Amounts
 
Sec. 404.201  What is included in this subpart?

    Authority: Secs. 202(a), 205(a), 215, and 702(a)(5) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(a), 405(a), 415, and 902(a)(5)).

    Source: 47 FR 30734, July 15, 1982, unless otherwise noted.

                                 General


    In this subpart we describe how we compute your primary insurance 
amount (PIA), how and when we will recalculate or recompute your PIA to 
include credit for additional earnings, and how we automatically adjust 
your PIA to reflect changes in the cost of living.
    (a) What is my primary insurance amount? Your primary insurance 
amount (PIA) is the basic figure we use to determine the monthly benefit 
amount payable to you and your family. For example, if you retire in the 
month you attain full retirement age (as defined in Sec. 404.409) or if 
you become disabled, you will be entitled to a monthly benefit equal to 
your PIA. If you retire prior to full retirement age your monthly 
benefit will be reduced as explained in Sec. Sec. 404.410--404.413. 
Benefits to other members of your family are a specified percentage of 
your PIA

[[Page 70]]

as explained in subpart D. Total benefits to your family are subject to 
a maximum as explained in Sec. 404.403.
    (b) How is this subpart organized? (1) In Sec. Sec. 404.201 through 
404.204, we explain some introductory matters.
    (2) In Sec. Sec. 404.210 through 404.213, we describe the average-
indexed-monthly-earnings method we use to compute the primary insurance 
amount (PIA) for workers who attain age 62 (or become disabled or die 
before age 62) after 1978.
    (3) In Sec. Sec. 404.220 through 404.222, we describe the average-
monthly-wage method we use to compute the PIA for workers who attain age 
62 (or become disabled or die before age 62) before 1979.
    (4) In Sec. Sec. 404.230 through 404.233, we describe the 
guaranteed alternative method we use to compute the PIA for people who 
attain age 62 after 1978 but before 1984.
    (5) In Sec. Sec. 404.240 through 404.243, we describe the old-start 
method we use to compute the PIA for those who had all or substantially 
all of their social security covered earnings before 1951.
    (6) In Sec. Sec. 404.250 through 404.252, we describe special rules 
we use to compute the PIA for a worker who previously had a period of 
disability.
    (7) In Sec. Sec. 404.260 through 404.261, we describe how we 
compute the special minimum PIA for long-term, low-paid workers.
    (8) In Sec. Sec. 404.270 through 404.278, we describe how we 
automatically increase your PIA because of increases in the cost of 
living.
    (9) In Sec. Sec. 404.280 through 404.288, we describe how and when 
we will recompute your PIA to include additional earnings which were not 
used in the original computation.
    (10) In Sec. 404.290 we describe how and when we will recalculate 
your PIA.
    (11) Appendices I-VII contain material such as figures and formulas 
that we use to compute PIAs.

[68 FR 4701, Jan. 30, 2003]