April is Financial Literacy Month.

Jack Myers with Social Security explains for most, Social Security is a vital part of your financial plans He hopes you'll make this April the month you decide to take a more engaged approach to learn more about your future Social Security benefits.

Myers encourages you to start by creating your mySocialSecurity account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount. Once there, you can review your personal Social Security Statement. The Statement is a very important financial planning tool because it provides a summary of the estimated benefits you and your family could receive including potential retirement, disability, and survivors’ benefits. He notes it will provide estimates at future benchmark retirement ages and project current earnings up to those ages.

Check out the Retirement Calculator within your mySocialSecurity account for custom scenarios with different retirement dates and earnings levels. You can also review your earnings record for accuracy as your future Social Security benefits will be based on it. Myers says it is a good idea to check it out at least once per year.

The Social Security Plan for Retirement page also outlines several issues to consider as you think about retirement. For more information about everything Social Security, visit us at www.ssa.gov.