[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: 20CFR404.220]

[Page 79]
 
                      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. 404.220  Average-monthly-wage method.

    (a) Who is eligible for this method. You must before 1979, reach age 
62, become disabled or die to be eligible for us to compute your primary 
insurance amount under the average-monthly-wage method. Also, as 
explained in Sec. 404.230, if you reach age 62 after 1978 but before 
1984, you are eligible to have your primary insurance amount computed 
under a modified average-monthly-wage method if it is to your advantage. 
Being eligible for either the average-monthly-wage method or the 
modified average-monthly-wage method does not preclude your eligibility 
under the old-start method described in Sec. Sec. 404.240 through 
404.242.
    (b) Steps in computing your primary insurance amount under the 
average-monthly-wage method. We follow these three major steps in 
computing your primary insurance amount under the average-monthly-wage 
method:
    (1) First, we find your average monthly wage, as described in Sec. 
404.221;
    (2) Second, we look at the benefit table in appendix III; and
    (3) Then we find your primary insurance amount in the benefit table, 
as described in Sec. 404.222.
    (4) Finally, we apply any automatic cost-of-living or ad hoc 
increases that became effective in or after the year you reached age 62, 
or became disabled, or died before age 62, as explained in Sec. Sec. 
404.270 through 404.277.