If I Could Tell All Retirees 1 Thing About Social Security, I'd Say to Do This Before You Claim Benefits

If (for some very strange reason) a digital forensics expert were to comb through my search history, they might raise an eyebrow at how often I visit one particular website. It's called my Social Security and has served as my retirement GPS for several years. At this point, it's like an old friend, answering retirement-related questions as they pop up and helping me figure out how ready we are for my husband's eventual retirement.

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If I could tell you one thing about Social Security, I would suggest that you immerse yourself in this site before claiming benefits. Everything you need to know is right there in black and white. Here's a peek at what it has to offer and how that information can empower you to make decisions.

Your Social Security statement

The first thing you'll see once you've created an account and logged in is Your Social Security Statement. If you're old enough, you may remember the periodic statements the Social Security Administration (SSA) used to send through the mail. I remember receiving my first one in my 20s and thinking it was hysterical. Mostly, I remember comparing it to my husband's and being peeved at how much more the SSA anticipated him receiving in retirement (and possibly questioning why I had gone into such a low-paying field).

In short, your Social Security statement is a quick and dirty review of how much you've earned throughout your work history and your estimated Social Security benefits based on how old you are when you retire. It's a bird's-eye view of how much you've paid and how much you can expect to receive in return.

If you'd like a copy for your records, you can download the statement as a PDF or XML file.

Benefit summary

If you're already retired, scroll a little further down the home page for a summary of the benefits you've already received. I can picture receiving Social Security benefits for 10 or 15 years and checking out how much those benefits have increased thanks to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs).

Medicare enrollment details

Next, you'll find where you stand with Medicare enrollment. Even if you never plan on retiring or don't expect to need Medicare benefits for many years to come, you're supposed to apply the year you turn 65. (In case you're curious, the enrollment period begins three months before your 65th birthday and lasts three months after.)

If you apply online, which I suspect most people do, pushing the "enter" button may feel like you've sent your application off into the void. The nice thing about the section covering Medicare enrollment details is that it tells you exactly where you stand: whether your enrollment is complete, the parts of Medicare you've signed up for (for example, Part A, C, or D), and when your benefits are set to begin.

Eligibility and earnings

I'm not going to lie. This is, by far, my favorite part of the site. It informs you of whether you have the 40 work credits required to receive Social Security benefits and enables you to view your complete earnings record. It's sort of fun to take a trip down memory lane. For example, I was tickled to learn that the last year I ushered for the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs, I earned a total of $335. I recall feeling incredibly wealthy at the time.

But the very best part of the site, the part I turn to most often? It's the retirement calculator. It's a personalized, interactive graph that you can manipulate to find out how much your Social Security benefits would be if you were to retire at a particular age. For example, if I want to know how much I can expect to receive at age 67, I can use my cursor to move a big green dot, and the graph will adjust to show me my monthly benefit.

This brings me to another thing I love about the eligibility and earnings tool. Normally, when I log in to my Social Security page, I also log in to my husband's. That way, I have a better idea of how much we'll receive as a household while we're both still alive and kicking. And as dismal as it may sound, having access to the eligibility and earnings tool made it far easier for me to come up with a post-retirement budget for whichever one of us is left standing after the other dies.

Easier access to SSA

Whether you need to replace your Social Security card, request a benefit verification letter, or upload documents, it can all be accomplished through my Social Security. If you want to know how much your disability benefits would be if you became unable to work due to a medical condition or find out more about survivor benefits, my Social Security is the place to go.

Forget listening to Muzak as you remain on hold with or drive to your local SSA office. You may find everything you need on this well-designed and informative site. Personally, I consider it a valuable piece of retirement planning.

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