Take five steps toward retirement planning

No matter how much you’ve planned, there’s no better time than now to think about the future. Planning for the future may seem intimidating, but we’ve broken the task down into five easy steps:

• Get to know your Social Security: Social Security delivers financial security to millions of children and adults before retirement, including the chronically ill, children of deceased parents and wounded warriors. Learn more at socialsecurity.gov/agency.

• Verify your earnings: Your benefits are calculated using your employment records. Use your personal my Social Security account to verify that your earnings are recorded accurately. Access your account today at social security.gov/myaccount.

• Estimate your benefits: With our Retirement Estimator, you can estimate your future retirement or disability benefits based on your earnings record. This can be invaluable as you plan for your future. View our calculators at socialsecurity.gov/planners/ benefitcalculators.html.

• Apply for benefits: You can apply for retirement, Medicare or disability ben- efits online through our easyto-use, secure online appli- cation that is convenient to navigate. Read more about benefits and apply now at socialsecurity.gov/benefits.

• Manage your benefits: Social Security puts you in control by offering convenient and secure services that fit your needs. Verify your payment information, change your address or phone num- ber, get a benefit verification letter, and even start or change direct deposit of your benefits. See all the things you can do at socialsecurity.gov/ myaccount.