Boldly Go Online to Retire - It's So Easy!

Social Security offers an online retirement application that you can complete in as little as 15 minutes. It’s so easy. Better yet, you can apply from the comfort of your home or office at a time most convenient for you. There's no need to drive to a local Social Security office or wait for an appointment with a Social Security representative.

In most cases, once your application is submitted electronically, you’re done. There are no forms to sign and usually no documentation is required. Social Security will process your application and contact you if any further information is needed.

Apply for Retirement

Not ready to retire yet?

It's never too early to start planning. Use the Retirement Estimator to obtain immediate and personalized estimates of your future retirement benefit.

Questions about our online application...

Who can use it?

You can apply online if you:

  • are at least 61 years and 9 months old;
  • are not currently receiving benefits on your own Social Security record;
  • have not already applied for retirement benefits; and
  • want your benefits to start no more than 4 months in the future.

Note: We cannot process your application if you apply for benefits more than four months in advance.

Important

If you are within 3 months of age 65, your retirement application will include Medicare benefits. If you do not want to start receiving retirement benefits yet, you can use this application just to sign up for Medicare.

However, if you have a Health Savings Account (HSA) and/or health insurance based on current employment, you may want to ask your personnel office or insurance company how signing up for Medicare will affect you.

How do I use it?

Select the Apply for Retirement button above.

You'll go through a series of screens that will ask you questions about yourself, your family and your work.

If you get stuck on a question, you can skip it and go back later. When you get to the end of the application, we'll let you know if there are any questions you still need to answer.

Once you've answered all of the questions, just click on "Submit Now" to send your application to Social Security.

Note

You may also have to mail or bring in some documents that we need to process your application.

How does it make it easier to apply for benefits?

Our online application has number of features:

  • A Retirement Estimator - gives you a personal estimate of how much your benefits will be at different ages and "stop work" dates.
  • Avoid trips to your Social Security office. That saves you time and money.
  • Answer questions on your schedule - you can start and stop the application without fear of losing any of the information you entered.
  • Chance to correct mistakes - before you finish the application you'll be given a chance to go back and make corrections.
  • [More Info] links - when you have trouble answering a question help is just a click away...
  • No need to mail in your application - when you're finished, just click "Submit Now" to send your application to Social Security.

Note

You'll get a receipt for your online application that you can print and keep for your records. We'll also give you a confirmation number. Use that number to check the status of your application after you've applied.

How long can I stay on each page?

For security reasons, there are time limits for viewing each page. You will receive a warning after 25 minutes without doing anything, and you will be able to extend your time on the page. After the third warning, you must move to another page or your time will run out and your work on that page will be lost.

Note

If you turned JavaScript off in your browser, you will not receive these warnings. After you spend 30 minutes on a page, you must move to another page or you will be logged out.

What happens after I apply?

Once we receive your application, we'll review it. After the review, we will contact you if we need more information or if we need to see your documents. We'll also let you know if...

When we have all of the necessary information and documents, we'll process your application and send you a letter about our decision in the mail.

Note

If you applied online for just Medicare, you can still apply online for retirement benefits later on.