These pages are meant to be a fun and easy way for you to understand how much money you will get monthly from Social Security:

• Under a healthy, fully funded system
• Under the current system
• Under 5 proposed fixes to help make the system stronger

And to take action by writing your representative and/or senator or spreading the word to your friends and family about the current state of Social Security.

'Social Security Predictor' Landing Page

A short introduction at the top of the page provides a very high-level overview of the issues facing Social Security. After that, it's on to the fun stuff!

1. Choose your age group, ranging from 20s to 60s, from the first column.
2. Next, choose your income level. There are four different ranges you can choose from, based on the numbers used by Boston College to create the predictions.
3. If you desire, choose your kid's or grandkid's age (this column is optional).
4. When you've chosen something in first two columns — three if you've added your kids or grandkids — click the Show Me the Future button and you're off!     

Hint: Changing Pictures

When you click on an age group in the first and third columns, you'll notice that a Change Pic link pops up. This allows you to switch the picture on the button if you want.

'The Future' Page

We packed a lot into this page, from the amount of money you're predicted to receive based on your selections on the first page to the money your kids and future generations are slated to receive to the year Social Security won't be able to pay full benefits. We also included an area in the upper right-hand corner that allows you recalculate your benefits based on five proposed fixes to Social Security. At any point, you can use the "Start Over" button to change your age, income level, or the ages of your kids/grandkids and get new predictions.

Will You and Future Generations Get the Money You Should?

This section shows you how much money you will get monthly, both if Social Security were fully funded versus if nothing were done to the current, unhealthy system that's in place. 

Below this is the same information for your kids. To generate this data and keep things simple, it was assumed that your kids would make the same amount of money you do. Remember, this is for when your kids turn 65 and are ready to retire. All figures are in current dollar amounts, so they are easier to compare to each other.

Each profile — You, Your Kids/Grandkids, Next/Following Generation — contains:

• An image 
• An Assumptions link
• Year of retirement
• Answer to the question: Will you and future generations get the money you should?
• Monthly benefits based on a fully funded system vs. the current system  

Try to Increase the $ You & Your Kids Get 

In the upper right-hand corner of the page, you can toggle back and forth between five proposed fixes to Social Security and click the "Recalculate Benefits" button when you find one you're interested in. 

This will change the Social Security dollar amounts you see on the left side of the screen. Now you can view the amount you would receive if Social Security were fully funded and how much you would receive under the proposal you chose.

You can reset the page to your original values using the button in the bottom right, which will appear after you've clicked on the "Recalculate Benefits" button. And you can also view all of the fixes side-by-side, by clicking on the link of the same name below the "Recalculate Benefits" button.

In a Nutshell

Just above the timeline on the right side of the screen is the "In a Nutshell" language. This provides a short and simple explanation of what you're seeing on the page.

Year Social Security Can't Pay Full Benefits

On the right-hand side of the screen below the "In a Nutshell" language, there is a timeline showing when Social Security's trust fund will hit zero. At this date, Social Security can only pay out around 78 cents on the dollar for benefits. As you choose different fixes, this timeline will show how far out this extends Social Security's solvency.  

'The Future — Compare Fixes Side-by-Side' Page

If you click on the "Compare all fixes side-by-side" link below the "Recalculate Benefits" button it will take you to a page where you can see a comparison of all of the proposed fixes in one place, including data on the current system and a healthy system. These figures are displayed on graphs for easy comparison.

Monthly Payroll Taxes

This graph shows the taxes you're predicted to pay under each proposed fix, again compared against a fully funded system and the current system.

Year Social Security Can't Pay Full Benefits

This timeline shows the dates Social Security will not be able to pay full benefits under all of the proposed fixes.