by Peter M. Weinbaum, JD
The Social Security Administration has resumed mailing written copies of Social Security Statements to individuals over 60 years old. If you have not received your 2012 statement in the mail, you may obtain it online.
1. Go to http://ssa.gov/
2. Go to the Top Services menu on the left side of the page and click on Get your Social Security Statement online
3. Click on the box at the bottom left of the page that says: Sign In or Create an Account
4. Follow the instructions
Once youve created your account and the most difficult part might be coming up with a password that fits their rules you may access your statement at any time. If you still have several years to go before you reach Full Retirement Age (FRA) 66 for those born between 1943 and 1954 the SSA estimates assume that you will continue earning at the same rate you have been earning between now and FRA. In fact, they will look at your most recent years earnings and project that forward.
If you believe you will be earning more or less than that between now and FRA, you may use SSAs Retirement Estimator to get another perspective.
1. Go to http://ssa.gov/
2. Click on the Retirement tab, second from the left at the top of the page
3. Select Estimate your Social Security retirement benefits from the menu on the right
4. Click on the box (about 2/3 of the way down, that says: Estimate Your Retirement Benefits
5. Follow the instructions
Notice that you have the opportunity to run several scenarios in which you can specify different years in which you stop working as well as your average earnings until that time.