Dear Savvy Senior: When my neighbor applied for his retirement benefits last year, he found that Social Security had made some mistakes on his earnings record in past years, which caused him to get a monthly benefit check that was lower than it should have been. He never got it straightened out. How can I make sure this doesn’t happen to me? — Paranoid Paul
 

Dear Paul: The best way to keep an eye on your Social Security benefits and avoid any possible mistakes is to carefully review your Social Security statement, which you can now do online.
 

Just go to ssa.gov/mystatement and answer a few questions to verify your identity, and then print your statement out on paper. If you’re age 60 or older and not yet receiving benefits, your statement will actually be mailed to you about three months before your birthday.