Part 1: Getting started with Social Security. What Social Security is and why you need it ; A breakdown of benefits ; Deciding when to start collecting retirement benefits ; Protecting your number and securing your card -- Part 2: Taking the plunge: filing for Social Security. Signing up for benefits ; Determining how much you've earned ; Navigating the system ; When you and Social Security disagree: the appeals process -- Part 3: Who benefits and when. Spousal benefits: watchingout for each other ; Family benefits: who gets what ; When you can't work: Social Security disability benefits -- Part 4: Social Security and your future. Enrolling in Medicare ; Working in "retirement" ; Shaping a financial future you can live with -- Part 5: The part of tens. Ten myths about social security ; Ten reasons young people should care about social security ; Ten choices facing the country about the future of social security -- Part 6: Appendixes.