Check income reported to Social Security

Whether you’re ready to retire, just joining the workforce or somewhere in between, regularly reviewing your Social Security earnings record could make a big difference when it’s time to collect your retirement benefits.

Just think, in some situations, if an employer did not properly report just one year of your work earnings to us, your future benefit payments from Social Security could be close to $100 per month less than they should be. Over the course of a lifetime, that could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in retirement or other benefits.

On average, Social Security processes about 236 million W-2 wage reports from employers, representing more than $5 trillion in earnings. More than 98 percent of these wages are successfully posted with little problem.

It’s the responsibility of your employers to provide accurate earnings information to Social Security so you get credit for the contributions you’ve made through payroll taxes. We rely on you to inform us of any errors or omissions.

So, what’s the easiest and most efficient way to validate your earnings record?

Go to socialsecurity.gov/ myaccount to set up or sign in to your own my Social Security account. Under the “My Home” tab, click on “Earnings Record” to view your online Social Security Statement and taxed Social Security earnings. Carefully review each year of listed earnings and use your own records, such as W-2s and tax returns, to confirm them. Keep in mind that earnings from this year and last year may not be listed yet.

If you need to correct your earnings record, check out the fact sheet at socialsecurity .gov/pubs/EN-05-10081.pdf.