The original mission for Social Security was to promote economic security for the nation’s people. Social Security is much more than a retirement program, providing financial benefits, information, and tools to help support workers and their families in every community across America.
It’s important for students to understand why Social Security was created and why it’s important in their lives today and in the future. This knowledge and understanding will provide your students a strong base on which to build their financial future.
The goal of our Educators webpage is to provide you with a toolkit full of the information and resources to develop engaging and informative lessons on Social Security and the importance of planning for the future.
The toolkit consists of the following components:
- 2 lesson plans with objectives
- Infographics and handouts for each lesson plan
- Links to web pages and other resources with additional information and resources
- Talking points
- Quiz questions and answers
You as an educator may also have questions about Social Security and our online resources. It is important to check your Social Security Statement each year to verify the accuracy of your earnings.
Sign in or create a personal my Social Security account to verify your earnings and see an estimate of future benefits throughout your career and into retirement.
With a personal my Social Security account, you can estimate your future benefits at different ages when you may want to start receiving benefits.
Please note: Some educators work in jobs in which they do not pay Social Security taxes. If this applies to you, the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) of 2023, signed into law on January 5, 2025, ended the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which were used to reduce benefits. Therefore, December 2023 is the last month that WEP and GPO will apply. This means those rules no longer apply to benefits payable for January 2024 or later.
For more information, or to find out if you might be affected, visit our See how your pension may affect your benefits page.