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Retirement |
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How should I prepare for retirement? |
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The three major elements of your retirement portfolio are benefits from pensions, savings and investments, and Social Security benefits. To help you plan for retirement, each year we send you your personal Social Security Statement, which gives you an estimate of the monthly benefit amounts you and your family may qualify for now and in the future. If you've received your Social Security Statement and have questions about it, visit http://www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement/. Once you've reviewed your Statement, you may want to explore a variety of retirement scenarios using a range of assumptions about your future earnings or when you stop working. You can do that with our Retirement Planner. The Planner not only tells you how to qualify for Social Security benefits, but it also includes a Retirement Estimator and Benefit Calculators that help you calculate your own benefit estimates. |
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When should I retire? |
Generally, you should apply for retirement benefits three months before you want your benefits to begin.
To find out what your full retirement age is, use our Retirement Age Chart. Even if you don't plan to receive benefits right away, or decide to wait until after you reach full retirement age, you still should sign-up for Medicare three months before your 65th birthday. Choosing the month you start to get benefits is an important decision. If you are not quite ready to retire, but are thinking about doing so in the near future, our Retirement Planner will help you prepare. If you plan to continue working after you reach age 62, it may be to your advantage to start your retirement benefits before you stop working. |
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How do I apply for retirement benefits? |
You can apply for retirement benefits online, but not for Medicare. To apply for retirement benefits, just connect to the Internet Retirement Insurance Benefits application and follow the instructions. To apply for Medicare, call or visit your local Social Security office. Or you can make an appointment for your application to be taken over the telephone or in person at a convenient Social Security office. If you're deaf or hard of hearing, call our toll-free TTY number, |
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What documents must I provide? |
When you apply for benefits, we'll need the following:
We need original documents or copies certified by the issuing office. You can mail or bring them to a Social Security office. We'll photocopy and return your documents. Don't delay your retirement just because you don't have all the documents we need--the people in your local office will help you. |
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What should I remember to do after I retire? |
Remember to tell us whenever there's any change in your life circumstance that affects your benefits. For example, we should be notified if you:
You can find more information about what to do when any of these changes happen, and answers to most of your retirement questions, in our booklet, "Retirement Benefits," SSA Publication Number |
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Last reviewed or modified Wednesday Apr 01, 2009 |