The Social Security Administration has added a new feature to its online services, an "earnings estimator." I do not understand the name "earnings estimator" since what is estimated is not what I would call "earnings" but what I would call benefits. The agency must be proud of it, since I got about five e-mails about it. Unfortunately, the service is painfully slow, at least this morning.
It is not called the "Earnings Estimator." It is called the "Retirement Estimator," for the reasons you rightly note.
ReplyDeleteHere is the text of the official announcement:
A Message To All SSA And DDS Employees
Subject: New Online Retirement Estimator
In June, when I announced our redesigned Social Security Online homepage, I told you to stay tuned for more improvements to our website. Today, I am pleased to announce one of those improvements – the launch of our new online Retirement Estimator, located at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.
The Retirement Estimator provides immediate and personalized benefit estimates online to help people plan for their retirement. Deciding when to retire is one of the most important and difficult decisions many people face. The Retirement Estimator provides highly accurate benefit estimates for those nearing retirement age. For younger workers, it provides valuable information to help them plan and save for their retirement.
The Retirement Estimator is convenient. Since the estimate is tied to an individual’s actual Social Security earnings record, it eliminates the need to manually key in years of earnings information. Because it is interactive, the Retirement Estimator allows users to compare different retirement options by changing their “stop work” dates or expected future earnings.
Just as important, the Retirement Estimator is secure. The only thing it provides online is retirement benefit estimates. It does not show the earnings record information on which the final benefit estimate was calculated, nor does it reveal other personal information.
To use the Retirement Estimator, users must enter identifying information about themselves, including their first name, last name, date of birth, Social Security number, place of birth and mother’s maiden name, which must match SSA records. The Retirement Estimator also has a “blocking” feature that lets concerned individuals prevent anyone from estimating their retirement benefit.
We have already demonstrated the Retirement Estimator to various groups, including the Social Security Advisory Board, Congressional staff, representatives of the financial planning and human resources industries, and national organizations like AARP. The Retirement Estimator received rave reviews, and we have commitments already from some organizations to place a link to the Retirement Estimator on their websites.
In conjunction with the Retirement Estimator, we also are launching a new fact sheet, “When To Start Receiving Retirement Benefits.” This fact sheet provides important information people should consider when deciding at what age to start receiving their Social Security retirement benefits. It is intended to help the public make an informed decision about when to apply for benefits based on their individual and family circumstances. The fact sheet is located at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10147.html.
The Retirement Estimator and the “When To Start Receiving Retirement Benefits” fact sheet are just two of many things we are doing to make more information and services people need available over the Internet. As you know, we recently unveiled a new home page at www.socialsecurity.gov that reduces visual clutter and is easier to navigate. Since its release, we have received many positive comments. In the fall, we will introduce the public to our next initiative: a total overhaul of our online retirement application that will reduce the average filing time from 45 minutes to about 15 minutes. These initiatives will help us better handle the baby boomer wave and make it easier for the public to do business with us online.
Please take advantage of opportunities to encourage the public to use our many online services.
Michael J. Astrue
Commissioner