The Social Security Administration has announced that it has redesigned benefit statements in a change that can help workers of any age who contribute to the program. The statements can be found at the SSA website, while people over 60 years old who do not have benefits and do have an account can get the statements by mail before their birth date.
The agency claims that, by that measure, the information is simplified for complex programs. The statements should have fact sheets and specific age cohorts. In addition, records on how to get the most benefits are available. The administration also recommends that the statements should be verified annually by all workers.
The new feature has a blue bar graph with benefit estimates for different nine ages. If you are willing to wait until age 70, you are maximizing your benefits. If you do that as early as 62, you will take reduced benefits permanently.
“The blue bar form is a welcome addition for workers who need the information to help them make good choices about their benefits,” stated David Freitag, a social security expert at MassMutual, in an interview to CNBC.
All the worker’s earning history can be found in the new statements. The earnings taxed for Social Security and Medicare are also featured. On the other hand, the updated statements only provide 20 years of earnings. The previous version had all the years, but still, all the earnings can be checked on My Social Security Accounts.
It is important to check the statements because to make sure no error is in the system. In addition, not only you should check the recent earnings, but the full history. All the benefits are calculated based on the last 35 years with the highest income.
Other than the retirement benefits, the statements bring more information about Medicare, disability, and survivor earnings estimates.