G.
Reading Your Social Security Statement
Your Social Security Statement consists of six pages (four if you are
younger than age 55).
 Computer:
A sample Social Security Statement is available in other
languages. Though you can obtain your personal statement only in
English, comparing this to a sample in a language with which you’re more
comfortable may clarify the information. Sample statements are currently
available in Chinese, Italian, Korean, Polish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. These
can be obtained online at www.ssa.gov/mystatement, or by calling
800-772-1213.
Only pages two and three contain information that is personal to you.
The other pages merely give a boilerplate overview of Social Security
programs. See the sample pages two and three below, from the official
sample provided by the SSA.
Note that the sample represents a person who is about 40 years old. If
you are closer to retirement, the figures on your statement should look
much different.
 TIP: You may notice mistakes on your statement. The procedure for setting the record straight is discussed in "Correcting Your Record," below. Failure to correct mistakes could result in a regular bite out of your monthly check.
Page two. The second page of your statement shows dollar estimates of
the benefits to which you’d be entitled under the various Social Security
programs. As cautioned in the introductory paragraphs, these are only
estimates. The precise figures will not become available until you actually
claim your benefits. To arrive at these estimates, they’ve guessed at how
much you’ll earn per year until you reach retirement age—you can
see their guess on the second-to-last line of this page. However, your
earnings could rise or fall dramatically in the years ahead. Because of this
uncertainty about the future, the less time that elapses between when
you receive the estimates and when you actually claim your benefits, the
more accurate the estimates are likely to be.
If you look at the sample, the first sentence next to "Retirement" reads
"You have earned enough credits to qualify for benefits." This isn’t mere
boilerplate—this statement would also tell you if you had not earned
enough credits. If you hadn’t, the statement would also tell you how
many more credits you needed to qualify.
The remainder of this statement is largely self-explanatory, or will be
after you’ve read other portions of this book. To figure out your "full
retirement age," see "Timing Your Retirement" in Chapter 2. For how
your continuing to work after reaching full retirement age will increase
your benefits, see "Working After Claiming Early Retirement Benefits"
in Chapter 2. The Social Security Disability program is explained in
Chapter 3, family benefits in Chapter 4, survivors benefits in Chapter 5,
and finally Medicare benefits in Chapters 11 through 14.
["Your Estimated Benefits" Graphic] omitted for online sample chapter.
You’ll note that no estimate is given for the family benefits that you’ll
receive—that’s because these vary not only with the amount of your
retirement benefits but also with the number of your minor children.
Also, no figure is given for Medicare benefits—that’s because the key
issue is simply whether or not you’ve earned enough credits to qualify for
coverage, which the statement does tell you.
At the bottom of page two, make sure that your name appears exactly
as it does on your Social Security card and that your birthdate and Social
Security number are listed correctly.
Page three. The third page of your statement actually breaks down
your earnings history year by year, for your entire working life back to
1950. Any earnings before 1950 will be summarized on a single line.
This history may not reflect every dollar you’ve earned—it includes only
income on which you’ve paid Social Security taxes. Also, if you earned
more than the maximum taxable earnings during a particular year, your
earnings record will show only that maximum amount. (This is basically
fair, since you wouldn’t have paid any taxes into the system for amounts
over these limits.)
You’ll notice that the earnings record is broken into two columns, one
titled "Your Taxed Social Security Earnings" and the other "Your Taxed
Medicare Earnings." For most people, these two columns will contain
the exact same numbers. However, some people will see higher numbers
in the Medicare column. That’s because since 1994 all earned income,
even over and above the Social Security maximum, has been taxed for
Medicare purposes. People who earned more than the maximum taxable
income since 1994 will have paid more into the Medicare system than
into the regular Social Security system.
["Your Earnings Record" Graphic] omitted for online sample chapter.
TIP:
Regularly review your records. Your benefits estimate is based on
the average of your earnings over your entire lifetime. Your earnings in the
last few years before you claim retirement may be higher than most of your
earlier working years, and if so will increase your average, and your benefits,
significantly. For that reason, it is important to request an official statement
every few years to keep track of your changing benefits estimate.
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