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By Lisa Wallace

Social Security Public Affairs Specialist in North Carolina

Each March, we celebrate Women’s History Month. It is a time to reflect on the achievements of women. Social Security has served a vital role in the lives of women for more than 85 years. 

Women have longer average life expectancies than men, which means they live more years in retirement and have a greater chance of exhausting other sources of income. It’s important for women to plan early and wisely for retirement.

Our retirement pages at www.ssa.gov/retirement provide detailed information about how life events can affect a woman’s Social Security retirement benefits. These events may include marriage, widowhood, divorce, self-employment, government service, and other life or career changes.

Your earnings history will determine your future benefits, so we encourage you to verify that the information we have is correct. You can create your personal my Social Security account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount and review your earnings history.  If you find an error in your earnings record, it is important to get it corrected so you receive the benefits you earned when you retire.  Our publication, How to Correct Your Social Security Earnings Record at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10081.pdf, provides you with details on how to make a correction.  You also can view your Social Security Statement on your my Social Security account, for estimates of future benefits and other important planning information.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help women plan for retirement, check out our online booklet, Social Security: What Every Woman Should Know.  You can find it at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10127.pdf.  Please share this information with family and friends.