April is Financial Literacy Month, a month focused on educating people about the importance of planning for a secure financial future. Social Security is a vital part of any financial plan, and we have online tools to help you understand your potential Social Security benefits and how they fit into your financial plans.

You should periodically review your Social Security Statement through your personal My Social Security account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

Your Statement is an easy-to-read record of your earnings that determine your future benefits. You’ll want to verify that your recorded earnings are correct as they affect the amount you could receive.

Your Statement also provides a summary of the estimated benefits you and your family could receive, including potential retirement, disability and survivors benefits. The online statement is paired with an interactive retirement calculator that allows you to run additional benefit estimate scenarios comparing how different future earnings and retirement benefit start dates affect your benefit amount.

Start focusing on your financial literacy today. Log in to your My Social Security account and view your statement. If you don’t have an account, create one at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

Jeri Fields is the manager of the district Social Security office in Ironton.