Senior Life
News & information for the seniors in our community

sponsored by Friendship Manor

Read this if you plan to retire soon 

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[May 24, 2011]  Planning to retire in early 2011?  It may already be time to apply. 

Applying for benefits is easier than you think.  Especially if you do it online at www.socialsecurity.gov.  The Social Security website makes the process easy and convenient. 

Just logon to your computer and visit our website at www.socialsecurity.gov/applyonline.  You can apply online for your retirement benefits from the comfort of your home or office.  It can take as little as 15 minutes. 
 

In most cases, once your application is submitted electronically, you are done. There are no forms to sign and usually no documentation is required. Social Security will process your application and contact you if any further information is needed. 
 

Regardless of when you plan to retire, you should consider doing it about three months ahead of time.  Then you will know that your payments will make it to you on time. 
 

If you are not quite ready to retire but are thinking about doing so in the near future, you may want to visit Social Security’s website to use our convenient and informative retirement planner at www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2.  Here you can find out just how close you are to meeting your financial goals and then “bookmark” the website to file for retirement benefits when you are ready.  From there, you can use our Retirement Estimator to get an instant, personalized estimate of your retirement benefits. 
 

Remember that you are always first in line when you go online.  Learn more about Social Security by visiting our website at www.socialsecurity.gov

 

By Judith Bartels

Social Security District Manager in Springfield, IL  
 

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