Online account is just a few keystrokes away

Useful information about your Social Security earnings and benefits is just a few keystrokes away when you create your online my Social Security account.

my Social Security is a personalized online account people can use during their working years and throughout the time they received Social Security benefits. If you are 18 or older, you can create a my Social Security account to access your Social Security statement — a great planning tool to check your earnings record and view estimates of the retirement, disability and survivors benefits you and your family may receive. In addition, from your account you will find links to information about other online services, such as applications for retirement, disability and Medicare.

If you are receiving Social Security benefits, you can use your my Social Security account to access services that usually require a phone call or trip to a local office. For instance, if you need a letter from Social Security verifying the amount of your monthly benefit, you can print that letter from your account.

In addition, if you want to let Social Security know about a change to your address or phone, or if you want to start or change direct deposit of your benefits, you can do that online using your my Social Security account.

In this section, you will find a simple four-step guide to help you set up your personalized my Social Security account. We hope this guide is useful to you and encourage you to visit www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount and create your account.

Once there you will be asked to provide information about yourself and answers to questions that only you are likely to know. After completing the secure verification process, you can create your account with a unique user name and password, which will allow you to access your information.

We also want you to know that when you need to retire, the easiest and most convenient way to do it is right from the comfort of your personal computer. At www.socialsecurity.gov you can apply for retirement benefits in as little as 15 minutes. In most cases, there are no forms to sign or documents to send.

The Social Security Administration is proud to have been an important part of American life for more than 78 years and will continue to be for years to come. However you choose to conduct business with us, our commitment to you is courteous, accurate and compassionate service.