How to find out how much Social Security you will receive

Evaluating your Social Security Income is a big part of preparing for retirement. It is essential that you know exactly how much money you will receive in yours Social Security checks every month. The good news is that it’s easy to find out with a free online tool from the Social Security Administration.

The My Social Security Web Portal is your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about your benefits, if you want to make adjustments, or if you want to get documents related to your taxes and other important information.

Below, we’ll show you how to sign up, see your eligibility, and estimate your potential monthly payments. For everything you need to know about Social Security, check out our Social Security and SSDI cheat sheet.

How do I estimate my Social Security benefits?

To see all of your Social Security benefits, you must sign up for a My Social Security account. Note that if you have already registered for login.gov or ID.me accountyou can skip the next steps and just log into your account. If you’ve never signed up for one of these services before, here’s what you need to do.

1. Head to login.gov registration page.
2. Touch Create an account and enter your email and your preferred language and then click I submit.
3. You will be prompted to confirm your email address on the next screen. You can also request a resend of the confirmation email or change the email address.
4. Check your email and search for a Confirm your email from login.gov. Click the Confirm Email Address button to be returned to the website.
5. Now create a password for your account. The password must have a minimum 12 characters.
6. Next, you’ll need to set up two-factor authentication. You can use an authentication app, text message or phone call, backup codes, a physical security key, or a government employee ID. Follow the steps to set up your chosen authentication method and click continue.
7. Now that your login.gov account has been created, you can use it to log in to the My Social Security portal.

The next few steps will connect your login.gov account to the My Social Security portal, where you’ll accept the terms of service and enter your information to verify your identity.

How to Find Your Social Security and Income Eligibility

Once you go through the setup process, you’ll access the My Social Security dashboard. But before you can start estimating your monthly benefits, you first need to make sure you’re eligible to receive them.

The Social Security Administration determines your eligibility based on the number of “work credits” you have. To qualify for Social Security benefits, you’ll typically need 40 work credits, and you can earn up to four per work year. Work credits are earned throughout your working life, so if you’re not 40, you won’t be able to get an estimate of your monthly benefit until you are.

Another important part of this section is the ability to view your complete earnings record. It will show all the years you worked, along with the taxable income for each of those years.

It’s best to take your time and review your annual tax returns to confirm the numbers are correct. If your record is missing a year you worked or you have incorrect earnings over a period of time, you may not receive all the benefits you are entitled to. If you find a discrepancy, you can request a correction to your record.

How to estimate your monthly Social Security checks

Just below the Eligibility and Earnings section of your dashboard is the Retirement Calculator. The calculator gives you a breakdown of your estimated monthly benefit based on whether you retire early at age 62, start receiving benefits at your normal retirement age (which is 67 for those born in 1960 or later), or wait to receive your maximum payment amount when you turn 70. If you still choose to collect benefits early, you’ll receive less than if wait until your normal retirement age.

With the calculator, you can easily run different benefit scenarios to see how much you can expect to receive each month based on the age you start collecting benefits. You can fine-tune your age or retirement date, your average future salary, and compare your benefits to your spouse. Any adjustments you make in the calculator will automatically be added to a prediction table shown below, allowing you to easily print or save the information.

What else can you do with a My Social Security account?

In addition to checking your benefits, you can process other requests through your account.

• Change your Social Security card.
• View or print your benefits confirmation letter.
• Start or check the status of your retirement application.
• Run or check the status of your Applying for Social Security Disability.
• Count wages if you are currently working and receiving SSDI.
• Calculate compensation for a current or former spouse.

For more information on Social Security, don’t miss out why 70,000 people lose their welfare every year and ours Social Security and SSDI cheat sheet.