Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced an online version of the Social Security Statement is now available at www.socialsecurity.gov. The new online Statement provides eligible workers with secure and convenient access to their Social Security earnings and benefit information. An SSA Statement can provide you with important information detailing how much you will be eligible to receive upon retirement, how much you and your family would be entitled to each month in benefits should you become disabled, and a convenient way for workers to verify that SSA has correct earnings information. This last point is important because Social Security retirement and disability benefits are based on average earnings over a person’s lifetime. If the earnings information is not accurate, the person may not receive all the benefits to which he or she is entitled.
To get a personalized online Statement, people age 18 and older must be able to provide information about themselves that matches information already on file with Social Security. In addition, Social Security uses Experian, an external authentication service provider, for additional verification. People must provide their identifying information and answer security questions in order to pass this verification. Social Security will not share a person’s Social Security number with Experian, but the identity check is an important part of this verification process.
For more information about the new online Statement, please go to www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement.
