U.S. Social Security Estimated Benefits Statements Now Online

[Jingthing]

This concerns U.S. nationals who have not yet claimed a social security benefit. You probably know that S.S. used to send out annual printed statements ESTIMATING your future benefits. A while back they stopped doing that to cut costs. Only people over 60 will be getting printed statements. Now you can view this information online but to do so you must create a secure account at the S.S. website.

I thought this would be of interest to some expats.

I haven't tried to create an account yet. If you do from outside the U.S., please report if there are any issues with opening the account without a U.S. I.P. address.

Cheers.

http://www.washingto...F8vT_story.html

The agency announced Tuesday that workers 18 and older can now go to www.ssa.gov, where they can create a secure account to see their information.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Jingthing

[NomadJoe]

I haven't tried to create an account yet. If you do from outside the U.S., please report if there are any issues with opening the account without a U.S. I.P. address.

http://www.ssa.gov/ won't open for me using AIS 3G but http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com says it's up so I tried wth a US based proxy and it worked.

Edited May 3, 2012 by NomadJoe

[NomadJoe]

Embarassed to be an American and a trekkie.

[Tywais]

http://www.ssa.gov/ won't open for me using AIS 3G but http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com says it's up so I tried wth a US based proxy and it worked.

It was reported several months ago that access was not possible by many on the forum. 3BB Chiang Mai can not access but ok with my US VPN turned on.

[Javabear]

I just did the whole setup from Rayong on 3BB with no VPN. No issues.

[craigt3365]

I can get to the site, but not the page to signup.

[Tywais]

Tried it at my office computer and same thing, can not connect except through VPN. Went through the signup process and after finishing got this message.

"We are sorry but this service is not available to you. Please contact Social Security and speak with a representative."

Not sure what this is about since I'm using a US VPN or perhaps they detect a VPN and don't allow signups through it.

[richard10365]

Won't work for me. I don't have a U.S. address.

[Sateev]

One think to watch for is that the site is NOT open 24/7. They are not very clear about it, but you have to observe US hours to access parts of the site. That said, I can't access the main site using True, nor could I with TOT in Nong Khai. With OpenVPN, it works fine.

[Jingthing]

Let me put it this way.

If you access from a Thai IP and you can supply a U.S. address, can you set up a secure account for S.S. estimate info, or not?

[Javabear]

Let me put it this way.

If you access from a Thai IP and you can supply a U.S. address, can you set up a secure account for S.S. estimate info, or not?

I did.

[chanwit]

Tried it at my office computer and same thing, can not connect except through VPN. Went through the signup process and after finishing got this message.

"We are sorry but this service is not available to you. Please contact Social Security and speak with a representative."

Not sure what this is about since I'm using a US VPN or perhaps they detect a VPN and don't allow signups through it.

Tried it at my office computer and same thing, can not connect except through VPN. Went through the signup process and after finishing got this message.

"We are sorry but this service is not available to you. Please contact Social Security and speak with a representative."

Not sure what this is about since I'm using a US VPN or perhaps they detect a VPN and don't allow signups through it.

On the comment about login detection of VPN or proxy, secure systems can detect unusual logins. I have to use my Ultrasurf VPN to get to the SSA web site as well as other web sites. A word of caution, you need to be aware that leaving VPNs turned on may cause induced blindside headaches when accessing other accounts such as bank and credit card accounts. One one occasion, after accessing the SSA site, I exited the VPN the wrong way and it was still active. I then needed to access my US bank account for an inquiry which worked without problem. The next day I could get to the online bank account but I could not login. Then I get phone calls to my US contact number telling me to contact the banks fraud department. The bank had detected what they called a login unlike my usual login and it was flagged as a hack attempt. The phone call cleared things up and we both deduced that the unusual but successful login using a proxy caused the system to lock the account. Having cleared this up the bank contact said it is OK to use identity protection and even recommended but the first time you might receive a blind side punch to the head.

Edited May 5, 2012 by chanwit