Tips for completing your Social Security application online
Are you close to retirement? Get ready to file your Social Security application online.
To keep costs down and in anticipation of the 80 million baby boomers who will apply for retirement benefits over the next 20 years, the SSA is expanding its website and online services.
If you haven’t visited the SSA website recently, you should stop by for a visit. In addition to the design makeover, the site is also easier to use with the most wanted services listed right on the front page for easy access.
What can you do online?
One of the services you will see is the ability to submit your claim online. While most people go to the SSA website to apply for retirement benefits, that’s not the only thing you can do right on the website. Here are just a few things you can do online on the website:
– Apply for retirement, spousal or disability
– Request a replacement Social Security card
– Sign up for Medicare or get help with your Medicare prescription drug costs
– Appealing a decision (if you have been refused disability benefits, for example)
– Estimate your future retirement income with the income calculator
– Change your address or phone number
– Explore popular baby names
– And much more…
Why should you file your Social Security claim online?
If you’re one of the 10,000 baby boomers expected to retire every day between now and 2029, here are a few reasons why you’ll want to file online:
1. The online retirement application can be completed in just 15 minutes,
2. You can apply for benefits from the comfort of your own home and
3. No need to drive to the nearest Social Security office or stand in a long line.
How to apply for Social Security online
You can file your benefits application online if you are at least 61 years and 9 months old and live in the United States or one of its territories and are not currently receiving benefits on your own record. You also must not have already applied for benefits.
Note that the SSA cannot process your application if you file for benefits more than four months in advance, so don’t apply early and want your benefits to start no later than 4 months in the future.
It is also important to know that if you are within 4 months of turning 65, you will automatically be enrolled in Medicare when you submit your retirement application online.
To start your online application, just go to socialsecurity.gov and click on “Apply for Retirement Benefits” (there are also links to apply for disability benefits and Medicare benefits if that’s your goal).
After you click the “Apply for Retirement” button, you’ll be taken through a series of questions about yourself, your job, and your family. The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and in most cases, once you click submit, you’re done (no need to mail in your application, the whole process is done online).
After you submit your Social Security application online, the SSA will review your application and contact you if more information is needed or if they need to see any documentation.
In addition to applying for benefits for yourself, you can also help a friend, family member or neighbor submit their claim online, but for privacy reasons you’ll need to complete an extra step or two. If a family member or neighbor is with you when you apply for them, just select the button on the front page that says ‘I’m helping someone who wants to apply for benefits and they’re with me’. If the person is not present, please select the button that says “I am helping a person who is not with me and therefore cannot sign the application at this time”. In the latter case, you will need to print the application and have the person sign it before mailing it.
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