It's been only a year since Social Security's Retirement Estimator went online, but you'd never know it based on the praise it continues to receive from users. It was rated the best online service in government by the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) for Federal Websites in February 2009. In the most recent ACSI report, the Retirement Estimator tied for first place with Social Security's online application.

The Retirement Estimator is so popular, in fact, that people have visited the website more than three million times in the past year. You can visit it yourself online at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.

The online Retirement Estimator is a convenient, secure and quick financial planning tool that lets workers calculate how much they might expect to receive in Social Security benefits when they retire. The attractive feature of this calculator is that it uses your earnings information on file at Social Security, without displaying your personal information. So you get an instant estimate of your future retirement benefits. And, it's so easy to use.

The Estimator even gives you the opportunity to run personalized scenarios and "what if" situations. For example, you can change the date you expect to retire or change expected future earnings to create and compare different retirement options. This can help you as you plan ahead.

To use the Retirement Estimator, you must have enough Social Security credits to qualify for benefits and you must not be receiving benefits currently.

Experience the best online service in government now by visiting Social Security's Retirement Estimator at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator. Then, once you've sketched out your retirement plans, you'll know where to go when the time comes to apply for benefits: www.socialsecurity.gov.

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!