U.S. Postal Service delivery bags are overloaded right now with statements from employers, banks, stockbrokers and other institutions and agencies that were involved in taxpayers’ financial lives last year. Each of these groups has, by law, until Jan. 31 (or the next business day when that date falls on a holiday or a weekend) to get their annual tax statements in the mail to taxpayers.

The one bit of relief for postal workers is that many taxpayers now receive these documents electronically. So be sure to double-check your e-mail, not just the curbside one for these statements that should be on their way.

Common Income, Deduction Statements

Most taxpayers depend on the same basic data to file returns. If you work for someone else, the IRS expects you, and the agency, to get a statement detailing that income. The data are slightly different, depending on whether you get paid a salary or do contract work, but there’s a form for either case.

W-2 — This is the key form, and you need one from each employer you worked for during the past year. Your W-2 shows how much money you made, how much income tax was withheld, Social Security and Medicare taxes paid, and any benefit contributions — retirement plans, medical accounts and child care reimbursement plans.

1098 — For most homeowners, mortgage interest is tax-deductible, and this document will tell you how much you paid last year. Your lender is required to send you one of these forms if you paid at least $600 interest. Actually, your mortgage company probably won’t send you an official Internal Revenue Service form, but a document of its own design that contains the same data. In addition to the mortgage interest, other information often found on this statement includes amounts paid toward points to get the loan and escrow disbursements for real estate taxes (also deductible) and property insurance (not deductible).

1098-E — Are you paying back a student loan? The interest on your educational debt is reported on this form; your lender must send you one if the interest tally is at least $600. You may be able to deduct your student loan interest and possibly other loan-related amounts, such as origination fees and capitalized interest. To figure the deductible portion of the interest amount found here, use the work sheet in your Form 1040 or Form 1040A instructions.

1099-INT — If you earned more than $10 in interest on a bank account or a certificate of deposit, you’ll get one of these forms for each account. Don’t dismiss this statement if you reinvested the interest. Tax law says you received the income even if you didn’t actually have it in your hand, and reinvested earnings are still taxable income. 1099-INT statements also are issued to people who cashed in savings bonds.

1099-DIV — Earnings from individual stocks and mutual funds are reported on Form 1099-DIV. This will show dividends and capital gains distributed over $10. As with reinvested interest, if you used the dividends or distributions to buy additional shares of the stock or mutual fund, you still have to pay taxes. However, the distributions and certain, qualified dividends are taxed at the lower capital gains rates.

1099-B — If you sold stocks, bonds or mutual funds, you will receive a 1099-B from your broker or mutual fund company. This will tell you the number of shares sold, when they sold and the amount you got for the sale. You’ll need this information, along with the date you bought the shares and the amount you paid for them, to figure your taxes.

1099-G — Taxpayers who got a refund of state or local taxes last year will get this form. If you used those taxes as a deduction on your previous year’s federal income tax return, you’ll need to report the 1099-G amount on this year’s return. You don’t have to worry about reporting this refund as income, however, if you took the standard federal deduction instead of itemizing.

1099-R — If you received a pension or a distribution from an individual retirement account or retirement plan, the 1099-R provides the details of these transactions. The form is issued by your broker, pension plan manager or mutual fund company. You’ll also get a 1099-R if you rolled over money in a retirement plan, usually a 401(k) to an IRA, or if you converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. A rollover usually is not a taxable event, but a pension payout may be.

1099-MISC — Self-employed individuals who earned $600 or more should get a 1099-MISC from the employer. You should get a separate 1099-MISC for each independent job you had during the previous tax year.

Late-Arriving Forms

There are a couple of statements you might need for your tax records, but because of the intricacies of the financial arrangements they cover, the documents do not always arrive before the April filing deadline.

Form 5498 — Any contributions made during the calendar year to any individual retirement accounts are reported on this form. The 5498 shows traditional IRA contributions that might be deductible on your tax return, as well as any rollovers, including a direct rollover to a traditional IRA, made during the last tax year. It also reports amounts recharacterized from one type of IRA to another. It notes any amounts converted from a traditional IRA, simplified employee pension or savings incentive match plan for employees to a Roth IRA.

Because these savings plans allow contributions up until the April 15 tax filing deadline, Form 5498s for these accounts aren’t due to taxpayers until May 31. You should, however, get a statement of each account’s fair market value in early February. You don’t need it to file your return, but keep it for your records. It will be helpful when you begin taking money out of these accounts and need to calculate any taxes.

Form 5498-ESA — Contributions to Coverdell education savings accounts, formerly known as Education IRAs, previously were reported on Form 5498, but these plans now are tracked on this statement. The youngster named as account beneficiary should get a copy of this document by April 30.

Schedule K-1 — Finally, if you received money from an estate, trust, partnership or S corporation last year, you should get a Schedule K-1. However, because of the complexity of many of these arrangements, account managers tend to send out K-1s later in the tax season — sometimes not until after the April filing deadline.

Because you do need to know this amount of K-1 income to file your return, consider getting IRS Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File. Filing this form, along with any tax you estimate you might owe, will give you six more months to get all your tax statements in hand.

When They Arrive, Check Them!

As your various tax statements come in, don’t just stuff them in a drawer and forget them until April. Take a few minutes to look over all your tax forms as you get them. This will give you an idea of what your tax liability — or refund — will be, and you’ll be reassured that you’re getting all the right information you need to complete your return.

You also need to check for errors as soon as the forms arrive so you can get them corrected in plenty of tax-filing time.

If a W-2 or 1099 statement is wrong — erroneous income, more interest on a savings account than was actually received, a pension payout listed as taxable when it shouldn’t be — you’ll need to contact the form issuer and get the information corrected as soon as possible.

Just as important, make sure they send you — and the IRS — a copy of the corrected document. Without it, any IRS questions on your tax return could result in post-filing headaches.

The true enrichment of human civilization is not a person or group from the same class held her by the joint responsibility of millions of people and their combined human characteristics and sensitivity to the big world, whatever their class, color and religion and in fact, our beliefs to a world we have a voice in the chorus to a common source of unity enriches our social values and find a real asset to good deeds, the other benefits and make him rich relationships with one’s true nature and happiness, his true inner peace is a gift from God.

What exactly is a nation? It has borders… though they may be porous. They have armies for defense… which sometimes are weak or overly adventurous. They have taxes and hierarchies and issues of legitimacy. And with few exceptions they each have a currency. And with so few nations on the gold standard, that means that nations survive based on the assumption that those little slips of paper in your pocket actually have value. The unshakable pillars of the world’s mightiest economies are held up by our collective belief in the value of money. Funny, but it works.

But what might happen if currency itself became a completive market, where any corporation could release its own placeholders of value, and use them to buy and sell goods and services? Backed by faith (like the Dollar); redeemable for goods and services (like the Dollar). Usable anywhere without exchange (like the… no… wait… the Dollar isn’t like that). Nor is the Pound or the Yen or any single national currency. And the Euro isn’t much better, as it’s only freely used in the EU.

So what might happen if a non-nation currency was released? Its value would be driven by its acceptance (faith in its value), the ease at which it could be used to support transactions, and the rules which would govern the supply of that currency (supply rules are important to insure that a currency neither Inflates or deflates at a rate which would lead to a loss of faith in its value.)

In an age of virtual books (Kindle, Nook), virtual phones (Skype), virtual friends (Facebook), and virtual computing (cloud), virtual currencies were inevitable. Bitcoin is such a non-nation currency, served up in a completely virtualized fashion. But can the modern nation states permit these would-be competitors to flourish?

First, a virtual currency has questionable controls, meaning that while the goals of its preservation may be stated, the individuals involved in managing the currency can, at their discretion, change the rules. It would be like if you or I lived in a universe where we just happened to be the ones in charge of the global currency. We could change the money supply, inflation rate, etc. to suite our private needs, or being small fish in a very big pond be compelled to do so by those with lots of gold or large fists.

Second, Bitcoin lacks the traceability which enables law enforcement to guard against money laundering, insider trading, support for terrorist activities, vote buying, political corruption, etc. Strictly speaking, once it reaches a size worth the attention of the Federal court system, it would be declared illegal, or at least illegal to use as legal tender.

Now if a virtual currency were launched by an industry group (such as Visa or MasterCard) so as to lend it credibility, and if transaction tracking was added (similar to what banks must report to law enforcement regarding questionable transactions) then we’d be off to the races. Perhaps then something like Bitcoin could live as the first non-national cyber-currency. Not backed by gold, but perhaps better than the Dollar. Better because the rules of the road would engender it with greater trust than the paper we currently carry around in our wallets (rules such as not being able to mint more in support of capriciously expanding national deficits.)

Prediction 1: While eBay may not accept the use of Bitcoins or, for that matter, any currency not backed by the full faith and credit of a government, eventually it will. Because there are some customers who will accept – even prefer – these forms of payment and because there are transaction fees to be charged for the privilege to spend those eDollars.

Prediction 2: The market’s acceptance of a virtual currency will face a tipping point when enough people accept it as a real holder of value. Watch for a shoe to drop from a major player in the financial sector to indicate that the market is being launched. Until then, any groundswell will be noodling around the edges, serving to attract attention to the market potential until one of the larger players to decide “it’s time.”

Prediction 3: Virtual currencies will open up vast marketing opportunities, because broad adoption will be supported by advertising and marketing, much as search is today.

Bringing revenue is often the most difficult obstacle to overcome prejudices, but it may be cautious in the business model, built on by advances or billing. Of course, requires some justification, but monthly payroll is now much easier with less expensive software like Kashflow advance and is becoming the norm with the advent of e-commerce. You have the customers that you really afford not to do a deposit, can ask.

Secured Loan
Under normal circumstances you would a bank loan for the cheapest source of financing to be expected. However, banks are reluctant sophisticated level of security combined with high interest rates on loans. This is mainly because most of the banks nor the valuation of a loan with a high risk and have a high degree of uncertainty about the underlying business cash flows.
Equipment Finance
Equipment Finance is best delivered on purchase and can be raised against everything from a truck on a computer mouse. This is cheaper than the overdraft facilities of the lender has some security and the level of risk must be assessed easily. Finance Equipment, but remains relatively expensive because of high administrative costs and risks of additional security theft, damage and decline in market value.

INVOICE FINANCE
Factoring income can be supplied in various forms and do not need all of your customers factoring. The highest level of service include credit control and the entire risk of default that are the simplest form, an offer to fund your claim on the ad. Fees  start at 1.5% above the base rate.
LONG TERM  Business Angels
This form of financing is to extend the rule for a new company with a great idea or a successful small business.    They will often try to acquire a majority stake, to ensure their input in the decision process. This will contribute to the risk of exposure, but in return for access to their comprehensive knowledge base so as to ensure a maximum return for help. Ensure the financing of a project in its own right, but concrete proposals arouse interest.

Friends, Family & ASSOCIATES
The old adage is not connected to business with pleasure, but in the good old days, people were, adding only that successful. Many client compliments are a company from a loan from a friend started, but the golden rule is to determine what to expect from each other. It is certainly the value of the preparation of a loan agreement or at least an agreement of terms.

With prices of commodities increasing day by day it is proper to make your very own strategic plan on maximizing your financial resources and making sure that every penny earned is well spent.

Make your move on coordinating your finances and list of expenditures that may affect the way you use your income and empower you on your economic stability as a working individual.

Your source of income, lifestyle, spending habits, current job and house location, cost of living, payables and loans determines your level of budgeting needs. Starting to take charge of your finances is one sure way of becoming successful in a field of self-fulfillment and success.

The following tips and recommendations will provide you details on how you can help yourself manage your finances and assume a new outlook to become responsible in your spending.

Ø    Treat Math As Your Lifetime Partner – Do the entire math in your purchasing needs. Try to compare prices across your current location for the price of a range of grocery and household items you need in a day-to-day basis.

Save as much as you can in an item you are trying to buy. Chinese businessmen exercise effective buying techniques. They save as much as they can and usually purchase in bulk to increase their revenue index on the item they plan on selling as well.

Ø    Gambling – Gambling tops the chart in making your life as chaotic as it could get. Gambling strips you off your finances and keeps you vulnerable from the threats of bankruptcy.

Ø    Know Your Wants and Needs – Limit your spending on something which you are not in dire need of. According to a recent study, luxuries are second to gambling in terms of the degree of money-stripping capability.

Ø    “Do Not Spend More Than you Earn” – Rags-To-Riches stories do not fail to mention this famous cliché. There is always truth to this phrase for you cannot live in a world where you consume more than what you can produce.

Ø    Keeping A List – Making your own budget list is vital to your success to becoming prudent. A wise buyer needs to consider the amount of a certain commodity and how will it impact his life as an individual.

An unconscientious consumer would not care about what is being purchased as long as he or she has money to buy for them. Unless you are someone who has a considerable amount of wealth and income resources, you can not afford to disregard this recommendation and go ahead with your practice.

I knew others who had already amassed several hundred thousand by the time the stock boom came along. They were millionaires by the time the 1990s ended.

Ah yes, those were the days. Today most people will tell you it’s a lot harder. Stocks don’t seem to do much any more. You have to invest in risky emerging countries to see much return. And that chance can evaporate overnight taking your money with it.

When the stock market won’t bring you any return, most people turn to real estate. But housing prices have peaked in most cities, meaning you can’t just buy a house and sit on it for several years to earn a fat nest egg.

So does that mean we have to give up on ever getting ahead and just learn to be satisfied living the “average” life our jobs can provide?

Not necessarily. These days you have to think differently to get ahead. For example, you’ve noticed how manufacturing and jobs are heading out of North America to foreign countries. That’s bad news for many workers, but it’s GREAT news for some segments of the Foreign Exchange Market.

You see, when we buy products from China, or Japan ships products to England, all kinds of currency has to change hands and be converted. There is BIG money in that process.

FOREX, the foreign exchange market, handles 2 TRILLION in transactions EVERY DAY. That’s far more money than what Wall Street handles. Just about anybody can jump in and pull out quite a profit for themselves by participating in the FOREX process.

Does all this sound a bit new to you? Most North Americans have heard very little about FOREX. They’ve got BILLIONS of dollars sitting in savings accounts and low yield investments that could make them a LOT more money in the Foreign Exchange Industry.

If you’re thinking helping all those millions get their money transferred to FOREX is a HUGE opportunity ripe for the picking, you’re RIGHT!

I hope my article has opened your eyes to some of the terrific opportunities that are being created now. Rather than looking back to the good old days of the booming American stock market and waiting for those times to return, refocus your attention on what is really happening right now. Your fortune lies in seeing more clearly the awesome opportunities at hand.

Step 1. Decide on the time frame and the general strategy of the investment. This step is very important because it will dictate the type of stocks you buy.

Suppose you decide to be a long term investor, you would want to find stocks that have sustainable competitive advantages along with stable growth. The key for finding these stocks is by looking at the historical performance of each stock over the past decades and do a simple business S.W.O.T. (Strength-weakness-opportunity-threat) analysis on the company.

If you decide to be a short term investor, you would like to adhere to one of the following strategies:

a. Momentum Trading. This strategy is to look for stocks that increase in both price and volume over the recent past. Most technical analyses support this trading strategy. My advice on this strategy is to look for stocks that have demonstrated stable and smooth rises in their prices. The idea is that when the stocks are not volatile, you can simply ride the up-trend until the trend breaks.

b. Contrarian Strategy. This strategy is to look for over-reactions in the stock market. Researches show that stock market is not always efficient, which means prices do not always accurately represent the values of the stocks. When a company announces a bad news, people panic and price often drops below the stock’s fair value. To decide whether a stock over-reacted to a news, you should look at the possibility of recovery from the impact of the bad news. For example, if the stock drops 20% after the company loses a legal case that has no permanent damage to the business’s brand and product, you can be confident that the market over-reacted. My advice on this strategy is to find a list of stocks that have recent drops in prices, analyze the potential for a reversal (through candlestick analysis). If the stocks demonstrate candlestick reversal patterns, I will go through the recent news to analyze the causes of the recent price drops to determine the existence of over-sold opportunities.

Step 2. Conduct researches that give you a selection of stocks that is consistent to your investment time frame and strategy. There are numerous stock screeners on the web that can help you find stocks according to your needs.

Step 3. Once you have a list of stocks to buy, you would need to diversify them in a way that gives the greatest reward/risk ratio. One way to do this is conduct a Markowitz analysis for your portfolio. The analysis will give you the proportions of money you should allocate to each stock. This step is crucial because diversification is one of the free-lunches in the investment world.

These three steps should get you started in your quest to consistently make money in the stock market. They will deepen your knowledge about the financial markets, and would provide a sense of confidence that helps you to make better trading decisions.

Both Visa and MasterCard are methods of payment. Both consign authorize differential businesses to surmise presume describe payments using their systems. Neither of the two clock in credit cards on their own behalf, instead they rely on banks throughout the world to issue the credit cards for them, provide the credit, and then charge the interest. Your credit card bill goes to the bank, as Visa or MasterCard doesn?t see any of it.

AMEX on the incommensurable hand, is too much different. American Express has their bear hard cash system, and they also break through their presume cards directly to consumers. Unlike Visa and MasterCard, AMEX runs the entire show. Therefore, when a credit card says American Express on it, you instantly know who has issued the card, what payment system it has, and everything else you would need to know.

Even though MasterCard and Visa are used supplementary throughout the world, American Express is always expanding their networks. Visa and MasterCard are used in over twenty five million locations due to the world, including interrogatory earth countries, which makes them extensive surmise card payments. AMEX on the other hand, doesn?t quite reach this degree. It is a great credit card, although it isn?t used around the world in areas where the other 2 dominant credit cards are.

You can effect AMEX assume cards with rewards, although you?ll craving to be judicial where you look-see and what you select. Normally, with Visa and MasterCard, you?ll have to introspection at hundreds of banks before you can gem the best choice. With AMEX, you can look at their website and find out what they offer and what type of APR you?ll have to pay. Most of the time, you can find a credit card with low interest and a great spending limit – providing you have good credit.

AMEX and has several advantages that it offers customers in North America and Europe. The assume finger is average widely in both areas, charity you assume cards with great features and very attractive looks. AMEX offers you great rates, good rewards, and excellent customer service as well.

American Express further offers you Blue, which is a newly introduced surmise separate that offers you further security, no journal fee, and 0% APR for the best year or so. Depending on your credit, you may be resultant to get an extended period with no interest. After that time has expired, you pay low fees, which makes it a great credit card for anyone looking for a deal. Blue is the newest card from AMEX, and will rapidly become one of the best – due to it?s amazing features.

In the nature of conjecture cards, American Express is one of the best. They quote you a change of contrary conjecture cards, designed to stockpile just about everyone?s needs. You find them online or through a local provider, although online is the preferred way to go. Simply fill out your application, and if you have good credit, you?ll be approved. Before you know it, you?ll have a credit card from AMEX – and be ready to experience life in the fast lane.

Switzerland has maintained a longstanding political distance between itself and the rest of Europe; it maintained neutrality through both World Wars (leading to charges it collaborated with the Nazis); it is not an EU member; and only joined the United Nations in 2002. Christoph Meili, a security guard at the United Bank of Switzerland, became a prominent whistleblower by preventing the destruction of Holocaust-era financial records in 1997 and bringing them to the attention of the public. Subsequently, Meili lost his job and received death threats, and became the first and only Swiss national to be granted political asylum in America.  Descendants of Holocaust victims claim Swiss banks are still holding onto some their ancestors’ funds, despite disbursements in recent years.

Regardless of its somewhat unsavory past, Switzerland has traditionally had much to recommend it as an asset haven. It is a stable western country with a well established system of laws, so investors will get no sudden surprises after a coup or regime change.

The financial establishment in Switzerland Banking in Switzerland is known for stability, consistency, privacy and protection of client assets and data. The nation’s tradition of bank secrecy dates back to medieval times, but was officially codified in a 1934 law. All Swiss banks are regulated by the Federal Banking Commission,or FBC, which derives its authority from a series of federal statutes. Banking is a major industry in Switzerland, employing approximately 5% to 6% percent of its workforce and generating 14% to 15% of its annual GDP. It is estimated that approximately one third of offshore funds are stored in Swiss banks. The UBS AG and Credit Suisse are the two largest Swiss banks, holding more than 50% of all deposits in Switzerland.

While secrecy of banking data is guaranteed under Swiss law, in practice it is not unlimited. While secrecy is protected, all bank accounts are linked to an identified individual, and a judge or prosecutor may issue a “lifting order” to give law enforcement access to information relevant to a criminal investigation. Swiss law discriminates between tax evasion and tax fraud. If money is not declared, this is considered tax evasion, a misdemeanor under Swiss law. However, tax fraud such as filing forged tax declarations is considered a criminal offence.

Also, in an effort to stop the use of Swiss banks by criminals, The Money Laundering Act sets standards for the identification of account holders, and requires reporting of any suspicious transactions to the Money Laundering Reporting Office. After 9/11, Switzerland was one of several countries to participate in joint task forces targeting financing of the Al-Queda terrorist organization.

Due to Switzerland’s high profile in the world banking community, it has come under pressure from many nations including the U.S. to alter its privacy laws. European Union members complain that their nationals use its convenient nearby services to avoid taxation at home. The EU is working towards a harmonized tax regime among its member states, and the the Swiss banking officials (and, according to some polls, the public) are against further integration. However, some cooperation has been forthcoming, and since July 1 2005, Switzerland has charged a witholding tax on interest earned by the personal Swiss accounts of E.U. nationals.

In 2001 and 2002, the government of Italy offered a limited amnesty to tax dodgers with Swiss accounts, resulting in the repatriation of 30 to 35 billion euros. In 2003, another such amnesty program was offered by Germany. In 2003, the U.S. announced a new information-sharing agreement under the previously-signed U.S. – Swiss Income Tax Convention, to facilitate more effective tax information exchange.

Swiss numbered bank accounts are legendary to the public as bastions of secrecy, but in reality, the information required to open such an account is the same as that of an ordinary account; completely anonymous accounts are legally forbidden. The only difference between a numbered account and a regular account is that personal data concerning such accounts is restricted to senior bank officers, rather than being accessible to all bank employees. In a criminal investigation, law enforcement can access the numbered account holder’s identification just as easily as that of a regular account.

In summary, anyone who wants to keep a legitimately-gained amount of capital in a safe off-shore asset haven should consider Swiss banks to be a safe bet. However, due to their high profile, these banks may offer less assurance of privacy than some lesser known, and less carefully scrutinized, countries such as the Turks and Caicos or the Guernsey Islands.

To help you plan for retirement, each year we send you your personal Social Security Statement, which gives you an estimate of the monthly benefit amounts you and your family may qualify for now and in the future. If you’ve received your Social Security Statement and have questions about it, visit http://www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement/.

Once you’ve reviewed your Statement, you may want to explore a variety of retirement scenarios using a range of assumptions about your future earnings or when you stop working. You can do that with our Retirement Planner. The Planner not only tells you how to qualify for Social Security benefits, but it also includes Benefit Calculators that help you calculate your own benefit estimates.

When should you retire?

Generally, you should apply for retirement benefits three months before you want your benefits to begin.

* If you were born before 1938 and you meet all other requirements, you can receive benefits beginning with the first full month you are age 62. However, if you choose to begin receiving benefits before age 65, your benefits will be reduced to account for the longer period over which you’ll be paid.
* If you were born after 1937, you also can start your Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but your full retirement age is more than 65.

Even if you don’t plan to receive benefits right away, or decide to wait until after you reach full retirement age, you still should sign-up for Medicare three months before your 65th birthday.

Choosing the month you start to get benefits is an important decision. If you are not quite ready to retire, but are thinking about doing so in the near future, the Social Security Retirement Planner will help you prepare. If you plan to continue working after you reach age 62, it may be to your advantage to start your retirement benefits before you stop working.

How do you apply for retirement benefits?

You can apply for retirement benefits online, but not for Medicare. To apply for retirement benefits, just connect to the Internet Retirement Insurance Benefits application and follow the instructions. To apply for Medicare, call or visit your local Social Security office.

Or you can make an appointment for your application to be taken over the telephone or in person at a convenient Social Security office.

If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, call our toll-free TTY number, 1-800-325-0778, between 7 AM and 7 PM Monday through Friday.

When you apply for benefits, you’ll need the following:

* Your Social Security number
* Your birth certificate (if you don’t have a birth certificate, you can get one from the State where you were born. See Where to Write for Vital Records for details on where to write)
* Your W-2 forms or self-employment tax return for last year
* Your military discharge papers if you had military service
* Your spouse’s birth certificate and Social Security number if he or she is applying for benefits
* Children’s birth certificates and Social Security numbers, if they’re applying for children’s benefits
* Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful alien status if you (or a spouse or child applying for benefits) were not born in the U.S.
* The name of your bank and your account number so your benefits can be directly deposited into your account.

Social Security will need original documents or copies certified by the issuing office. You can mail or bring them to a Social Security office. They’ll photocopy and return your documents.

Don’t delay your retirement just because you don’t have all the documents we need–the people in your local Social Security office will help you.  Don’t wait until you are 65 to plan for your golden years.