By Vonda Van Til, Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
Your Social Security Statement (Statement) tells you how much you or your family can expect to receive in disability, survivors, and retirement benefits. It also provides a record of your most recent earnings history and other valuable information.
We also give you fact sheets with your online Statement. The fact sheets provide clear and useful information, based on your age group and earnings situation. They can help you better understand Social Security programs and benefits.
The Statement fact sheets cover the following topics:
• Retirement readiness for workers in four age groups.
• Workers with non-covered earnings who may be subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.
• Social Security basics for new workers.
• How people become eligible for benefits (for people who have not earned enough work credits).
• How additional work can increase your future benefits.
• Medicare readiness for workers aged 62 and up.
We recently released a new fact sheet specifically for people with limited earnings. The new fact sheet covers how they and their family members may qualify for benefits, including:
• Supplemental Security Income.
• Social Security retirement benefits.
• Children’s benefits.
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
• Help with health care costs – including Medicare, Medicare Savings Programs, Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug costs, and Medicaid.
The best way to get access to your Statement and the new fact sheets is by using your personal my Social Security account. If you don’t have a personal my Social Security account, be sure to create one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount. You can even view your full earnings history there.
To learn more, visit our Social Security Statement webpage at www.ssa.gov/myaccount/statement.html. Please share these resources with your friends and family.
Vonda Van Til is the Public Affairs Specialist for West Michigan. You can write her c/o Social Security Administration, 3045 Knapp NE, Grand Rapids MI 49525 or via email at vonda.vantil@ssa.gov