Social Security, which has a wealth of information in Spanish at www.segurosocial.gov, has launched its first interactive online service in Spanish: the Retirement Estimator. To publicize the website and the new Spanish-language service, Social Security has enlisted the help of the widely popular and well-respected host of Sábado Gigante, Don Francisco.

“I ask my many friends to go to www.segurosocial.gov, not only for themselves but also to help their loved ones,” said Don Francisco. “There is a lot of great information there. Estimating your benefits and learning about Social Security online in Spanish is so easy.” (Watch a short video with Don Francisco at www.segurosocial.gov/calculador.)

The Retirement Estimator is interactive and allows the user to compare different retirement options by changing retirement dates or expected future earnings. It protects the user’s personal information by providing only retirement benefit estimates — it does not show the earnings information used to calculate the benefit estimate, nor does it reveal other identifying information. In the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the Retirement Estimator beat out top consumer online sites in the public and private sectors.

To learn more about the Retirement Estimator, read our publication online at www.socialsecurity.gov.

“The Spanish-language Retirement Estimator and the other information available on www.segurosocial.gov will help us provide a broader audience with important information they need to plan for a secure retirement,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. “The Retirement Estimator is the first of our online services available in Spanish, but we are not stopping there. We are working to make our online retirement application and Medicare Extra Help application available in Spanish in 2011. Until then, visit www.socialsecurity.gov to estimate your benefits and learn more about Social Security.”