Last year, to reduce costs, the Social Security Administration (SSA) stopped mailing annual paper statements to anyone under age 60. These statements are a great tool to use for retirement planning. The statements provide a history of your annual earnings and estimates of your social security benefits at various retirement ages, along with estimates for disability and survivor benefits.
Last week, the SSA added the ability to access your Social Security statements online. Here is the website to start the process to access your statement:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement/
I recommend that you review this at least once a year to make sure that your income is recorded accurately in the Social Security database. Your future monthly benefit is based on your average earnings over your lifetime. If your earnings are incorrect, your benefit will most likely be wrong.