I was incarcerated for several years.. I have zeros for those years. Is there a way to remove those zeros?

Hi. No. Your Social Security earnings history will always display zeroes for any years in which you paid no Social Security taxes. You can't voluntarily pay Social Security taxes in order to receive additional Social Security credits or to increase your benefit rate.

However, Social Security retirement benefit rates are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so you can reduce or negate the negative effect that those zero earnings years will have on your benefit rate by working and paying Social Security taxes on your current and future earnings.

You may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry