How to Read Your Social Security Statement
Warning. Keep your Statement private. Never upload your Statement file, and never type your Social Security number, into a website or app that is not ssa.gov. Your Statement holds your full earnings history and personal information. The real Statement is free, and it comes only from Social Security. No other website needs your Statement file to ‘check’ it for you.
General information only. This page explains the Statement in general. Only Social Security can figure your own benefits or fix your own record.
Where your Statement lives
Online, you can see your Statement by creating a free my Social Security account at ssa.gov.
Workers age 60 or older who do NOT have an online account are currently mailed a Statement three months before their birthday.
What the Statement shows
The Statement shows personalized retirement benefit estimates.
The estimates are shown as a bar graph at nine different ages.
The estimates assume you keep earning about the same amount you earn now until you start benefits.
The Statement also shows whether you have earned enough credits to qualify for disability benefits.
It shows benefits family members may be able to get.
It also has a note that you may qualify for Medicare at age 65.
Your earnings history
The Statement shows your earnings history, year by year.
It shows the earnings taxed for Social Security.
It also shows the earnings taxed for Medicare.
There is a yearly limit on earnings taxed for Social Security.
Pay above that limit does not appear in the Social Security column.
Credits and your highest years
You earn up to 4 credits a year.
You generally need 40 credits — 10 years of work — to qualify for retirement benefits.
Your benefit amount is based on your highest 35 years of earnings.
Years with no work count as $0 and can lower the amount.
Estimates are not promises
Estimates are figured under current law.
Congress has changed the law before and may change it again, so estimates are not promises.
The Statement itself says benefits are not meant to be your only income in retirement.
Why the earnings record matters
Check your earnings record.
Your future benefit is figured from it, so a mistake in the record can shrink your benefit.
If you find an error
If you find an error, view your full earnings record online.
Then call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213.
TTY: 1-800-325-0778.
Phone numbers
Social Security: 1-800-772-1213.
TTY: 1-800-325-0778.
For a Statement in Spanish, call 1-800-772-1213.
General information only. This page explains the Statement in general. Only Social Security can figure your own benefits or fix your own record.
Sources
Social Security Administration — “Your Social Security Statement” (ssa.gov/myaccount/statement.html) and Social Security’s sample Statement. Checked November 2026.