Get to Know Your Social Security Annuity

A Social Security annuity is a type of social insurance program in the United States which started out in the 1930's. This is a time when the poverty rates among senior citizens exceeded half of their population. By the 14th of August 1935, the Social Security Act was formally cited as a legislation of US President Theodore Roosevelt.

Currently, the Social Security administration readily provides an estimate of the future Social Security annuity to any taxpayer who requests for it. What do you have to do? Simple: just send a copy of an accomplished Form SSA-7004 which you can get a copy by calling 1-800-772-1213. You can also apply at their official website at www.ssa.gov.

The form that Social Security requires will ask you to fill out the following: personal information about yourself (including name and exact date of birth), your social security number, and earnings for the previous year, planned retirement age, and expectations of how much you will earn from the time of application to retirement.

Once the Social Security administration received the completed form and evaluated the records of your social security payments, they will be sending you an 8-page report entitled: 'Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement'. This document will arrive within four to five weeks and it will list down the entire social security annuity that you are most likely to receive upon retirement.

There are some major things you can expect about your social security report. Generally, you will receive a report which will advise the estimated monthly retirement check you will receive from them. This is based on the age you plan to retire.

Assuming that you plan to retire earlier than what is expected; you will also be advised of the approximate amount you can receive if you can afford to wait until your full retirement age. It will even give you a calculation of how larger your benefit will be if you continue to work until you are 70 years old.

For the survivor's and disability benefits, your family (or designated beneficiary) will receive a special survivor's benefit in the untoward occasion of your death. Your spouse will receive your full social security annuity until he or she turns 65. For your children, they will be receiving a portion of your retirement benefit until they have reached the age of 18. In the unfortunate event that you are unable to work for a year or if you are incurably ill, then social security will provide disability benefits. This type of income covers the dependent children. An approximate of the value of such payouts is also indicated in the full report that will be processed.

Finally, the report will include an annual statement of earnings that is subject to social security withholding. It is important that you check this alongside your personal records to make sure that they are not making any mistakes. By doing so, you can check the discrepancies way before your retirement income is disbursed.