Social Security Online Statements

You are probably used to receiving a statement from the Social Security Administration each year.  Those green and white flyers would tell you what your social security earnings history was and what your projected benefit would be at your full age of retirement or if you retired early or waited until age 70.  Last year the Social Security Administration stopped sending out these forms to save millions of dollars annually in printing and postage.  The replacement will be online statements.

You can now register at www.socialsecurity.gov to receive your social security statement electronically.  Registering takes a little time as there are a few security questions and you will need to set up a username and password.  The information you enter has to match what the Social Security Administration has on file for you or you will need to contact them to straighten out any differences.  However once you make your way through the registration process you will have access to up to date social security projections and your earnings history anytime you want. 

We recommend taking some time now to set up an account online so that you can have access to this information.  This information can be very useful in retirement planning and it’s important to review your annual earnings history to make sure what they report matches what you actually earned.  While it might be a bit of a hassle to get signed up, it will be worth your time in the long run.

In February the Social Security Administration resumed mailing paper statements to workers age 60 and older who are not already receiving benefits.  If you fall in this category you can still sign up online, but if you don’t, you will still receive a paper copy.  Everyone else will only receive statements online.

To download a Word version of this article, click here.