Social Security Mass Mailings Begin
Roughly 9 million Americans will be getting benefit estimates from the Social Security Administration this month, thanks to a law requiring the agency to automatically tell potential recipients what they’re due.
At a news conference scheduled for tomorrow, Social Security Commissioner Shirley S. Chater will launch the program by dropping the first batch of so-called “Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statements” in a Washington mailbox.
These statements, which estimate the monthly income individuals are entitled to receive when they retire or are disabled, are the first step in a long-term program that aims to explain more about Social Security benefits to every American age 25 and over.
The law requiring this effort was part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. However, it took five years to start the mailings because Social Security Administration computer systems needed revamping to handle the aggressive program.
The benefit estimates are aimed at boosting the retirement system’s credibility at a time when it’s running thin. Government auditors have said that Social Security could run out of cash in 2029. And a survey conducted last fall found that more 18- to 34-year-olds believed in UFOs than believed Social Security would be there when they retired.
The first batch of benefit statements will go to roughly 9 million Americans, age 60 and over, who have earnings credited to their Social Security number but who have not yet claimed benefits. In October, a second mailing will be sent to about 1.6 million people who turn 60 during 1995. Similar mailings will be completed throughout the 90s to new 60-year-olds. And, in October, 1999, the agency will start sending the statements to every contributor over the age of 25--a stunning 123 million individuals.
Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statements are computerized printouts that do five things:
* Show your annual earnings history.
* Indicate how much you have paid in Social Security taxes.
* Estimate the monthly amount of retirement benefits you’ll be entitled to at age 62, at “full” retirement age (which is 65 now but will slowly rise to 67), and at age 70.
* Delineate when you qualify for disability insurance coverage and how much monthly payments would be if you were disabled today.
* Detail survivor benefits payable to spouses and children in the event of your death.
Individuals who receive the reports are advised to check their earnings records for accuracy and notify Social Security officials if there are any discrepancies.
The earnings record is pivotal in establishing how much money you’re due in monthly Social Security benefits because payments are based on your average monthly earnings over 35 years of work. It takes 40 quarters--the rough equivalent of 10 years of work--to qualify for the retirement payments. However, it takes only 24 quarters to qualify for disability or survivor’s benefits.
What do you do if there’s a mistake? If you have pay stubs or W-2 forms--the slip employers send for your tax records--you can bring them in to a local Social Security office and agency officials will correct your earnings history on the spot, says Leslie Walker, a Social Security spokeswoman in San Francisco. Agency officials will also help taxpayers reconstruct their records if they think there’s an error but are unable to produce records to prove it, Walker adds.
The benefit figures in the Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statements are approximations, based on your earnings history and assumptions that your earnings will remain fairly stable prior to retirement. The exact amount you receive will vary based on your actual earnings in the remaining years until retirement and on inflation, Social Security officials say.
What the statement will not show, however, is what benefits you’d be entitled to receive on a spouse’s record rather than your own, Walker notes. Some individuals--women who took time off to raise children, for example--may actually get more if they apply for benefits on their spouse’s record rather than their own, she adds. That’s simply because they don’t have a full 35 years worth of work to add into the monthly earnings calculation. Years of “0” earnings may be added into the average.
If you have questions about your record or your ability to qualify for spousal benefits, you can call the Social Security Administration at (800) 772-1213.
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