Retirement estimate guide
How to get an official Social Security retirement estimate
Find Social Security Administration retirement estimators, check your earnings record, and compare claiming-age scenarios using official SSA tools.
Where can I see my personalized Social Security retirement estimate?
Sign in to or create a my Social Security account through SSA.gov. SSA says the account can show personalized retirement estimates based on your earnings record and let you verify your reported earnings. The SSA Benefit Calculators page links to the my Social Security Retirement Calculator, which compares estimates at ages 62, your full retirement age, and 70, and allows different future-earnings assumptions and a selected claiming date or age. Reviewed November 3, 2026. This guide links to official tools; it does not copy or calculate an individual benefit estimate.
What should I check before relying on the estimate?
Review the earnings history in your Social Security Statement for missing or incorrect years before comparing scenarios. SSA bases retirement benefits on covered work earnings, and the account estimate uses the earnings information SSA has on record. If you expect to keep working, use a realistic future-earnings assumption and compare more than one scenario. Your actual benefit can differ if your earnings record or future work differs from the assumptions.
Can I estimate benefits without signing in?
SSA offers public calculators through its Benefit Calculators page. The Quick Calculator asks for your birth date, current covered earnings, and planned stop-work date, but SSA describes its result as rough because it does not access your earnings record and instead estimates past earnings. The Online Calculator requires you to enter your covered earnings history from your Statement. For a personalized estimate tied to SSA's record, use the my Social Security account.
What does a claiming-age comparison tell me?
SSA's tools can show estimates for different benefit start ages, including 62, full retirement age, and 70. The estimate helps you compare SSA's modeled monthly amounts under those dates and earnings assumptions; it does not determine which choice is best for your household or account for all other retirement income, expenses, taxes, health, or longevity considerations. Review the official estimate and related SSA explanations, then consider your broader circumstances before deciding when to apply.
Does this site estimate my Social Security benefits?
No. Social Security benefits depend on an individual's earnings record, age, and other SSA rules. We do not collect Social Security numbers or earnings histories and do not reproduce personalized SSA projections. Use SSA.gov directly for your secure account and official estimates, and contact SSA about your record or eligibility.
Sources
- Social Security Administration: Get a benefits estimate (personalized account estimate and earnings basis; checked November 3, 2026)
- Social Security Administration: Benefit Calculators (official account and public calculator options; checked November 3, 2026)
- Social Security Administration: Using Your Account (Statement, earnings verification, and estimates; checked November 3, 2026)
- Social Security Administration: Quick Calculator (rough estimate and required inputs; checked November 3, 2026)