How to Estimate Your Monthly Social Security Retirement Payment and More With This Free Website

Even if you’re not thinking of retiring soon, you might be curious about how much you’ll be able to receive once you’re ready to apply for benefits. And for many people, the amount you’ll receive could play a large role in deciding when you apply. Luckily, it’s not hard to find out. 

With a My Social Security account, you can easily get an estimate of how much money you can expect to receive at a specific age, which can help you get a better idea of what you could be working with when the time rolls around. 

Not only that, you’ll be able to access important information that you’d otherwise need to reach out to the Social Security Administration directly for, which is currently harder to do than before. Below, we’ll show you how to sign up for a My Social Security account and estimate how much money you could receive when it’s time for you to retire. 

For more, don’t miss the Social Security payment schedule and the updated Social Security overpayment rules. 

To see your Social Security benefits, you need to sign up for a My Social Security account. Note that if you’ve already signed up for a login.gov or ID.me account, you can skip the following steps and just sign into your account. If you’ve never signed up for either of these services, here’s what you need to do. 

1. Head to the login.gov sign up page.
2. Tap the Create an account tab and enter your email and your preferred language and then click submit.
3. You’ll be prompted to verify your email address on the next screen. You can also request to have the verification email resent or change the email address. 
4. Check your email and look for a Confirm your email from login.gov. Click the Confirm email address button to be taken back to the website. 
5. Now, create a password for your account. The password must have a minimum of 12 characters. 
6. Nex,t you’ll need to set up two-factor authentication. You can use an authenticator app, text message or phone call, backup codes, physical security key, or a government employee ID. Follow the steps to set up your chosen authentication method, and click continue. 
7. Now that your login.gov account has been created, you can use it to login to the My Social Security portal. 

The next few steps will link your login.gov account to the My Social Security portal, where you’ll accept the terms of service and input your details to confirm your identity.

How to find your Social Security eligibility and earnings

Once you’ve gone through the setup process, you’ll get access to your My Social Security dashboard. But before you can start estimating your monthly benefits, you’ll first need to make sure you’re eligible to receive them. 

The Social Security Administration determines your eligibility by the number of “work credits” you have. To qualify for Social Security benefits, you’ll typically need 40 work credits and can earn up to four per working year. Work credits are earned over your working lifetime, so if you don’t have 40, you won’t get an estimate of your monthly benefit until you do. 

Another important part of this section is viewing your full earnings record. It will show all the years you’ve worked and the taxed earnings for each. 

It’d be best to take your time and look back at your yearly tax statements to confirm the numbers are correct. If your record is missing a year you worked or has incorrect earnings for a particular time period, you may not receive all the benefits you’re entitled to. If you find a discrepancy, you can request a correction to your record. 

Right below your dashboard’s Eligibility and Earnings section is the Retirement Calculator. The calculator gives you a breakdown of your estimated monthly benefit based on whether you retire early at 62, start receiving benefits at your normal retirement age (which is 67 for those born in 1960 or later), or wait to collect your maximum payment amount when you turn 70. If you do decide to collect benefits early, you’ll receive less than waiting until your normal retirement age.

With the calculator, you can easily run different benefit scenarios to see how much you can expect to receive each month based on the age you start collecting benefits. You can fine-tune your retirement age or date and your average future salary and compare your benefits to a spouse. Any adjustments you make in the calculator will automatically be added to an Estimates Table displayed below, allowing you to easily print or save the information. 

Besides checking on your benefits, you can handle other requests through your account.

• Replace your Social Security card.
• View or print your benefit verification letter.
• Start or check the status of your retirement application.
• Start or check the status of your Social Security Disability Insurance application.
• Report wages if you currently work and receive SSDI.
• Calculate a benefit for a current or former spouse.

For more on Social Security, don’t miss out on the ways that could cause you to lose your Social Security benefits.

Blake has over a decade of experience writing for the web, with a focus on mobile phones, where he covered the smartphone boom of the 2010s and the broader tech scene. When he’s not in front of a keyboard, you’ll most likely find him playing video games, watching horror flicks, or hunting down a good churro.