New, Shorter Social Security Statement Wins Early Praise

If you have an online Social Security account, your statement might soon look different.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has rolled out a redesigned statement that illustrates how enrolling for benefits at various ages — from 62 to 70 — impacts the size of your monthly benefit.

Thus far, just a small percentage of people with online accounts are getting the new statements, which is two pages instead of the standard four.

The new statement debuted on May 1. The SSA is in the process of gathering feedback on the redesigned statement.

Last week, Jeffrey Levine, chief planning officer at Buckingham Wealth Partners, made a splash when he tweeted that he was among those receiving the newly designed statement.

Michael Finke, professor of wealth management at the American College of Financial Services, told ThinkAdvisor that he likes the redesigned statement:

“The example that Jeff Levine showed on Twitter provided a much clearer graphical illustration of the income increase from delayed claiming. This can help workers recognize the advantage of waiting to claim benefits to increase lifetime income payments, which are even more valuable in a low interest rate environment.”

Other financial professionals also have given their early thumbs-up to the new statement.

An SSA spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor that the new statement is intended to “streamline and clarify the messaging” of the program, making it easier for people to find key information “at a glance.”

While the agency has yet to release more information about the new statements for the public, it did announce recently that new fact sheets will accompany many folks’ Social Security statements, as we reported in “How Your Social Security Statement Is Changing.”

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