Bill would make Social Security resume mailing of annual updates

With so much financial information available online, who needs paperwork cluttering your desk? But some members of Congress want Americans to get at least one financial document on paper: their annual Social Security statement.

Until a decade ago, the federal Social Security Administration mailed statements each year to millions of workers shortly before their birthdays. The statements contain a year-by-year ledger of their annual earnings as well as estimates of their monthly check in retirement.

The mailings had begun years earlier through the efforts of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who argued that workers regularly had money withheld from their paychecks for Social Security but never heard from the program. He considered the mailings an important tool to educate the public.

But to cut costs, the Social Security Administration instead began encouraging people to obtain their statements online. Now, a smaller pool of people — those 60 or older who are not yet receiving benefits and who have not set up digital mySocialSecurity accounts — automatically receive annual statements in the mail. (Paper statements are still available by special request.)

In the 2018 fiscal year, 17 million of the 39 million people with mySocialSecurity accounts logged on to see their online statement, the Social Security Administration’s inspector general reported. Of the 180 million people paying into the Social

Security system, about 140 million are not seeing their annual statements, according to House supporters of a return to mailings.

Some political leaders of both parties consider that a problem, given the weakening financial future of the Social Security program and skepticism among young voters about whether the program will be around when they retire. A bipartisan bill was introduced this summer in both the House and Senate to force the agency to resume annual mailings, specifically to workers 25 and older who are not receiving benefits.

“As younger Americans grow more doubtful about their chances for a secure retirement, this bill will provide them a clear view of what their earned benefits will be,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a sponsor of the bill.

The Social Security Administration does not comment on pending legislation.

The legislation is supported by AARP, an advocacy group for people older than 50, and other interest groups.

“It’s a way of informing people about their benefits,” said David Certner, legislative counsel and policy director with AARP, which wrote a letter of endorsement for the bill.

Receiving a hard copy of a statement can prompt a review for errors, Certner said.

Benefits are based on your earnings. So if numbers are wrong, a monthly retirement check could be affected. Checking the statement annually makes it more likely to make a comparison.