by Sheri Goeser Stritof

If you are over 25 years of age, and they can find a current address for you, about three months before your birthday, you should get a note from the Social Security Administration that includes your Social Security Statement.

If you don't receive your automatic Statement around your birthday, or if you want a Statement sooner, you can request a Statement or call their toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213 and ask for a request form SSA-7004 to mail in.

The statement is a record of your lifetime earnings and an estimate of benefits you may eventually receive. It is important to look over the statement to make sure that your name, date of birth, and your listed earnings are correct.

When a person requests a Statement, the SSA automatically drop his
or her name from selection for an automatic Statement during the next 11
months. They consider the information people provide on the request form
about their estimated future earnings and the age at which they expect
to stop working to be more accurate than the assumptions they use to
prepare automatic Statements. Therefore, requested Statements will give
you more useful benefit estimates for financial planning.

A quick explanation of how benefits are determined:

The "full retirement age" increases in gradual steps beginning with
people who were born in 1938 until it reaches age 67 for people born in
1960 or later.

If you've never been married, your SS benefit depends entirely on your own work history.

If you have been widowed, you can receive survivors benefits as early as age 60 and, if disabled, at age 50. The surviving spouse's benefit amount would depend on the amount of the deceased husband's Social Security benefit (or the amount he would have received) and the surviving spouse's age when she started getting benefits (this would range from 71½ percent at age 60 (or age 50 if disabled) to 100 percent at full retirement age).

If you were widowed and later remarried after you were 60, you can choose from one of the following (whichever is higher):

half of the benefit of your former spouse

half of the benefit of your current spouse if you were married at least one year

your own work record

If you were married for more than 10 years, and divorced, not remarried, and you and your ex-spouse are both over 62, you can collect 1/2 of your ex-spouse's benefit. If your ex-spouse dies, you can then collect the widow/widower's benefit which is usually higher.

A person cannot receive a "full" benefit unless he or she was at full retirement age when beginning to receive Social Security benefits.

Three months prior to your birthday (62+), contact your local Social Security office, or call 1-800-772-1213 for an appointment. You can also complete a retirement and/or spouse's application online. The online application is easy to use. Do make sure you have a printer before beginning the process.

According to the SSA application site, you will need to provide the following information:

Your Social Security Number

Your date and place of birth

Your bank or financial institution's Routing Transit Number and your bank account number

The amount you earned last year and the amount you expect to earn this year

The name and address of each employer for this year and last year

The beginning and ending dates for each period of U.S. military service you may have served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, Coast Guard, Public Health Service (PHS), or Coast and Geodetic Survey (CGS)

If you have ever been married, the name, Social Security Number and date of birth or age of your current and/or any prior spouse, the date and place of each marriage and, if appropriate, the date and place the marriage ended.

The SSA folks may also ask for the following documentation. These must be original original document(s). They will not accept photocopies. They say they will return the item(s) to you.

Your birth certificate or other proof of birth

Your Naturalization papers

Your U.S. Military discharge paper(s)

Your W-2 form(s) and/or self-employment tax returns for the last year (copy of SE and Schedule C - photocopies are acceptable)

The Social Security application site is not available 24/7. The hours it is operational are:

Monday-Friday: 5 a.m. until 1 a.m.

Saturday: 8 a.m. until 11 p.m.

Sunday: 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

For more information, visit www.ssa.gov/publications to read or download: Social Security: What Every Woman Should Know (Pub. No. 05-10127); Social Security: Understanding The Benefits (05-10024); and Social Security: Retirement Benefits (05-10035).