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YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY | Rock Island, Illinois Office

By Cristina Vital
Social Security Manager
Rock Island Social Security Office

SOCIAL SECURITY IS HERE TO SERVE

During the current coronavirus pandemic, we continue to provide help to you and other people in your communities. While our offices are not providing service to walk-in visitors due to COVID-19, we remain ready and able to help you by phone with most Social Security business. You can speak with a representative by calling your local Social Security office or our National 800 Number. You can find local office phone numbers online by using our Social Security Office Locator at www.ssa.gov/locator.
We offer many secure and convenient online services at www.ssa.gov/onlineservices, where you can:

• Apply for Retirement, Disability, and Medicare benefits
• Check the status of an application or appeal
• Request a replacement Social Security card (in most areas)
• Print a benefit verification letter
• Much more

Although you can do most of your business with us online, we know that service channel isn’t right for everyone. You can still count on us by phone. If you have a critical situation and we cannot help you by phone or online, we may be able to schedule an appointment for you.

If you need help, please don’t wait until we can see you in person. Call us now and get the help you need. We also understand that getting medical and other documentation can be difficult due to the pandemic, so we are continuing to extend certain deadlines wherever possible.

A REDESIGNED RETIREMENT BENEFITS PORTAL THAT WORKS FOR YOU

We are excited to tell you about our redesigned retirement benefits portal at www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement. Keeping you informed about our products and services, and helping you prepare for making decisions that will affect your benefits is very important to us. Preparing for retirement is one of the most important decisions you can make.
Our website has helped millions of people get ready for and apply for retirement. But we heard your feedback that you also want to:

• Find the information you need without reading through too many pages.
• Learn about the benefits in a clear and concise way.
• Be better prepared to apply for retirement online.
• Learn how to manage your personal my Social Security account online.

We made our redesigned retirement benefits portal more user-friendly and easier to navigate, whether you are ready to learn about, apply for, or manage your retirement benefits. You’ll find the new portal eye-pleasing, informative, and optimized for mobile devices. We also improved how we list our information on search engines to make it easier for you to find outside our website.

The new Retirement Benefits portal is just the first of several steps we are taking to improve your experience on our website. Visit our new retirement benefits portal today at www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement to Learn, Apply, and Manage your retirement benefits and subscribe to receive retirement information and updates.

Stay tuned for more exciting improvements and services.

SOCIAL SECURITY IN PLAIN LANGUAGE

Some of the terms and acronyms people use when they talk about Social Security can be a little confusing. We’re here to help you understand all you need to know.

We strive to explain your benefits using easy-to-understand, plain language. The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal agencies to communicate clearly in a way“the public can understand and use.” This can be particularly challenging when talking about complicated programs like Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicare. If there’s a technical term or acronym that you don’t know, you can
easily find the meaning in our online glossary at www.ssa.gov/agency/glossary.

Everyone uses shorter versions of words nowadays. We do too. Social Security’s acronyms function as shorthand in conversations about our programs and services. If you’re nearing retirement, you may want to know what PIA (primary insurance amount), FRA (full retirement age), and DRCs (delayed retirement credits) mean. These terms describe your benefit amount — based on when you decide to take it. If you take your retirement benefit at FRA, you’ll receive the full PIA (amount payable for a retired worker who starts benefits at full retirement age). So, FRA is an age and PIA is an amount.

Once you receive benefits, you get a COLA most years. A COLA is a Cost-of-Living Adjustment, and that will usually mean a little extra money in your monthly benefit.

What about DRCs? Delayed retirement credits are the incremental increases added to the PIA if you delay taking retirement benefits beyond your full retirement age. If you wait to begin benefits beyond FRA — say, at age 68 or even 70 — your benefit increases.

If one of those terms or acronyms comes up in conversation, you can be the one to supply the definition using our online glossary. Sometimes learning the terminology can deepen your understanding of how Social Security works for you.