Social Security Unveils a New Online Calculator
It's difficult to plan for retirement when you can't predict the precise amount of your Social Security checks. A new tool is available to more accurately estimate what your Social Security benefits will be.
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue unveiled a new online calculator yesterday. The Retirement Estimator allows you to test out retirement options such as various retirement dates or expected future earnings. You can also calculate what your benefit will be if you begin collecting at age 62, wait until your full retirement age, or further delay claiming until age 70. The future benefit amount is adjusted for inflation.
The online Social Security benefit estimates are tied to your actual earning record, so you have to enter a little bit of personal information. But the calculator replaces an older online calculator that required the user to type in a large portion of their earnings history, which was time consuming and difficult to do if accurate records of income were not kept. The new tool also one-ups the annual paper Social Security benefit estimate you receive in the mail, which is also based on your prior earnings but assumes that your salary stays the same until retirement. Benefit estimates will be more accurate for people closer to retirement age who can better predict their future earnings.
The new calculator follows a redesign of the Social Security Web page. In the fall, a new online Social Security application that will reduce the average filing time from 45 minutes to about 15 minutes will become available, Astrue says. "These initiatives will help us better handle the baby boomer wave and make it easier for the public to do business with us online."
Tags: retirement | social security
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Reader Comments
Retirement or Disability
I have just recently turned 62. I am disabled and can no longer work. If I take retirement at 62 it is less that disability. Am I able to get the higher disablity compensation? I need to know this as soon as possible so I can determine what my next move will be. Please answer back asap. Thanks. Anita Motley
Retirement or Disability
Anita - Your disability benefit would be higher than your retirement benefit (because the DI benefit isn't subject to early retirement reductions). But you have to qualify for DI, which isn't an easy or quick process. You should call SSA or visit a local field office for help.
A Lot of Money
After working more than 30 years at low-wage jobs, $1300/month from Social Security in my old age defintely seems like a ton of money. Hey, after all, it's a lot more than I actually earned smoking pot and dropping acid at Woodstock in 1969!
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