Is My Earnings Record Correct?
Your Social Security benefits are based on your earnings record. This is a compilation of your earnings and Social Security taxes paid as recorded by the Social Security Administration. You can view your earnings record at any time on the Social Security Administration website, along with your projected benefits.
Because your benefits are based on your earnings, you should check your Social Security statement annually to determine that the SSA has an accurate record of your earnings.
The SSA uses your 35 highest-earning years to determine your benefits. If you have any low-earning years, or zero years, you can raise your benefit by replacing those years with additional higher-earning years. If you find any errors, you might be cheating yourself out of payments if you don’t have them corrected. The SSA publishes instructions on how to correct your record if there are errors.
