Social Security will likely be a significant source of your income after you retire. To see estimates of your future retirement benefit from the program, go to the Social Security website. Once you've signed up for an account and signed in, you can get benefit estimates by reviewing your annual Social Security Statement or using the site's Retirement Estimator.

Your Social Security Statement

Your annual, personalized statement shows estimates of your retirement benefit at three points in time.

• Your full retirement age (FRA) is somewhere between 66 and 67, depending on your year of birth. Your FRA is when you can start collecting your full, unreduced retirement benefit from Social Security.
• Age 62 is the earliest you can start collecting a retirement benefit. If you begin collecting a benefit before your FRA, it will be reduced by as much as 30% of the amount you would have received at your FRA.
• Age 70 is the latest age at which you can start collecting a retirement benefit. Your benefit will be increased by a credit of 8% for each year beyond your FRA that you postpone collecting. The maximum total credit for delayed retirement is 24% for someone whose FRA is 67.

Your statement also contains a record of the earnings on which you've paid Social Security taxes throughout your working years. There are estimates of your disability and survivor benefits, too. All estimates are shown in today's dollars and assume no future pay increases. The closer you get to retirement, the more accurate your estimates will be.

Retirement Estimator

Between your annual statements, you may wish to get more current estimates of your retirement benefit. That's where the Retirement Estimator comes in.

After you provide some personal information, including your name, Social Security number, date of birth, mother's maiden name, and date of birth, you can get an estimate of your future retirement benefit. The estimate will be based on when you plan to retire and your projected earnings until retirement.

Other tools for getting estimates

Beyond your statement and the Retirement Estimator, the Social Security site offers a variety of online calculators to help you plan for your financial future.

This material is provided solely for educational purposes; it does not take into account any specific individual facts and circumstances. It is not intended, and should not be relied upon, as tax, accounting, or legal advice.