Perhaps you’ve heard that millions of Americans have created online accounts with the Social Security Administration called my Social Security accounts. But why do these accounts matter and what can they do for you?
Creating a my Social Security account is an important part of planning for your retirement. Your my Social Security account is the only place where you can see personalized estimates of your future benefits based on your actual earnings. The SSA uses your highest 35 years of earnings to calculate your benefit so it is advised that you check your SSA account every year to verify that the SSA has your correct earnings history.
Here’s what registering for your my Social Security account will allow you to do:
If you do not already receive benefits, you can:
- Request a replacement Social Security card.
- Check the status of your application or appeal.
- Get your Social Security Statement, to review:
- Estimates of your future retirement or disability benefits, including how much more you could get if you delay your retirement.
- Estimates of your monthly survivors benefits for a spouse and children.
- Your earnings once a year to verify the amounts that we posted are correct.
- The estimated Social Security and Medicare taxes you’ve paid.
- Get a benefit verification letter stating that:
- You never received Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicare
or
- You received benefits in the past, but do not currently receive them. (The letter will include the date your benefits stopped and how much you received that year.)
or
- You applied for benefits but haven’t received an answer yet.
If you receive benefits or have Medicare, you can:
- Request a replacement Social Security card.
- Get your benefit verification letter.
- Check your benefit and payment information and your earnings record.
- Change your address and phone number.
- Start or change direct deposit of your benefit payment.
- Get a replacement Medicare card.
- Get a replacement SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for tax season.
Your my Social Security account makes all of this information readily available to you without having to sit on hold waiting to speak to someone from SSA. Here’s how to set up your my Social Security account.
If you run into any problems setting up your account, you can get support by calling the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Derrik
