Social Security

In March 2011, the Social Security Administration discontinued mailing Social Security Statements due to the budget crisis. You may be able to estimate your social security benefit at retirement using the Social Security online Retirement Estimator.

If you have the last printed Social Security Statement you received, read below. Otherwise, use the online Retirement Estimator or contact the Social Security Administration. When you have your social security benefit at retirement skip to Next Step.

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The best place to find the amount of your social security benefit at retirement was in your Social Security Statement. This was mailed to you annually about three months before your birthday if you have paid into Social Security and you are over 25 years of age.

Here is a picture of the first page of my Social Security Statement.

If you have contributed to the Social Security (SS) program and earned 40 credits, you can start drawing benefits at age 62. However, your benefits will be reduced 20% below full retirement benefits.

Boomers have to work to age 66 or 67 to get full retirement benefits depending on the year of birth.

Here is the table to calculate when you will be able to receive full retirement benefits:

Year of Birth*	Full Retirement Age
1937 or earlier	65
1938	65 and 2 months
1939	65 and 4 months
1940	65 and 6 months
1941	65 and 8 months
1942	65 and 10 months
1943 - 1954	66
1955	66 and 2 months
1956	66 and 4 months
1957	66 and 6 months
1958	66 and 8 months
1959	66 and 10 months
1960 or later	67
*Refer to the previous year if you were born on January 1.

Page 2 of the Statement is where you find the amount of your monthly payment depending on when you choose to retire.

Next Step

Now that you have your social security benefit at retirement, you can proceed to the next step to prepare to use the best retirement calculators.

If you cannot find your SS Statement, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has calculators that will estimate your benefits. Be sure to read the "Things You Should Know" on the calculator page. You can choose a Quick Calculator, an Online Calculator, or a Detailed Calculator on the SSA Calculator Page.

SS can be a very important part of your retirement finances. To see the true impact of having or not having this in your retirement planning, use the Bloomberg Retirement Calculator. It has a check box on it "To include Social Security". See the picture below for the location of this option. Run the calculator with the box checked. Then run the same inputs without the box checked to see the significant difference.

Bloomberg REtirement Calculator - Social Security

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