Discover a wealth of information and services at www.socialsecurity.gov.

You can apply for Social Security retirement benefits online. Not sure whether you're ready for retirement? We can help you plan ahead with our online benefit planners. Perhaps the most impressive of these planners is the online Retirement Estimator, which you can use to get quick and accurate estimates of your retirement benefits based on different scenarios. And you can apply for disability benefits online. You even can apply for help to pay the costs of the Medicare prescription drug program at www.socialsecurity.gov.

Information on retirement, survivors, disability, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicare are easily accessible on Social Security's homepage. But the website offers much more. The site allows you to discover the wider Social Security program.

First, you'll want to familiarize yourself with our publications. They explain all of Social Security's programs. One of our newest publications is a fact sheet that explains the new retirement estimator—you can get to it from our Forms and Publications link at the left side of the home page. There, you'll find publications on all the relevant subjects including information about your Social Security card and number and how Social Security affects women. Moreover, dozens of publications are available in 15 languages. We even have a Spanish language website at www.socialsecurity.gov/espanol.

If you have a question that you can't find answered in the publications, click to "Questions?" for the most frequently asked questions and answers.

So spend some time at www.socialsecurity.gov. You'll be pleasantly surprised at all you can discover there.

Ginny Jordan is a Public Affairs Specialist for the Social Security Administration. Her weekly column on all things Social Security appears in the Sunday Edition of the Sun-Sentinel.

Ginny has agreed to let us reprint her articles here for your convenience.

Thank you Ginny!