We provide this free financial resource to visitors of the Community Room of SeniorSSuperStoreS in an effort to keep baby boomers, seniors and the elderly informed of matters that can affect their lifestyle.

If you're still working and contributing to the Social Security System, you need to be sure that the Social Security Administration is crediting you with your correct earnings for purposes of computing your future Social Security benefits. This is even more critical if you are nearing retirement age and will soon be applying for benefits.

All American workers age 25 and older should receive a Social Security statement based on their earnings record about three months before each birthday. It will show what wages and earnings for Social Security purposes you've been credited with and how much you can expect to get in retirement benefits. The Social Security Administration is not immune to making errors; if you find that they have made an error in recording your earnings, the instructions you'll receive in your statement detail what you should do to bring the error to their attention to get it corrected.

If you don't get a statement, you can request one by calling the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 or going online to www.ssa.gov.

A good overview of the retirement savings process can be found in the booklet "Social Security - Basic Facts." It can be ordered by contacting the Consumer Information Center at 1-888-878-3256 or at www.pueblo.gsa.gov.