Retirement Estimator—Even Better Than Before

(December, 2009)

Improvements to one of the most popular online services in government—the Retirement Estimator, located at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator—allow more people than ever before to get a personalized and instant estimate of future Social Security retirement benefits.

Since its launch last year, the Retirement Estimator has provided more than four million personalized estimates, and is one of the most highly rated online services in government.

The most recent customer satisfaction numbers are at an all-time high. The latest report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index for E-Government ranks the Retirement Estimator as the top service at 91 percent. It is followed closely by Social Security’s online retirement application, with a 90 percent customer satisfaction rating and the Medicare Extra Help application, with an 87 percent rating. These three Social Security services are the top three online services in government.

You may be wondering: if the Retirement Estimator is the most popular online service in government, what can be done to improve it?

One major improvement is that more people will be able to use it. Previously, people who had not yet filed for monthly Social Security benefits but who were already enrolled in Medicare were not able to take advantage of the service. Now they can. So if you have Medicare coverage but have delayed filing for your Social Security benefits and you would like to get an estimate of your future benefits, just visit www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.

Other improvements are coming soon. Next year, the Retirement Estimator will be the first online service available in Spanish.

Would you like to get an immediate and personalized estimate of your retirement benefits right now? Visit www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator. To get an estimate, you'll need to enter your first and last name, date and place of birth, Social Security number, and mother's maiden name. If the information matches Social Security's records, the Retirement Estimator combines this information with the information that Social Security has on record, including your yearly earnings, to provide a quick and reliable online benefit estimate.

While you're checking out the most popular online service in government, try out some of our other online services and information as well. You can find it all at 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!