Social Security Questions

Find The Answers To Your Social Security Questions

How is My Social Security Number Chosen?

Social Security vs. Retirement

Social Security is a program administered by the federal U.S. government for the purpose of providing a social safety net for the benefit of various areas of the populace as have an impaired ability to provide for their financial well-being.

In this regard, people can refer to their ideal Social Security retirement age, in terms of the general point for retirement under this system being marked at that of age 65, though Social Security retirement age can be adjusted either upwards or downwards, depending on the preference of the particular applicant for Social Security financial benefits. When measuring the consideration of when to go into retirement, people should consider that they can thus reduce their Social Security benefits.

Social Security retirement age considerations can be based, in part, on the year in which the specific applicant for benefits was born. In this regard, the degree to which benefits will be reduced for a person choosing to go into retirement from age 62 and up to 65 can be estimated based on a chart provided by the U.S. Social Security Administration.

In all, a person during retirement can gain around $1000 from the Social Security program if he or she makes the decision to retire at the age which is specified as ideal. According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security retirement age can also be profitably based upon an informed estimate of an individual’s life expectancy. In general, the “Plan Your Retirement” section on Social Security Online can answer questions on social security and retirement.

How To Get a New Social Security Card

People may require a new Social Security card at some point in their tenure under this system, a contingency as may come to pass due, potentially, to losing Social Security cards, or, in other cases, due to damaging or otherwise rendering illegible the Social Security cards which up to that point the individual in particular had possessed.

In this regard, the administering aspect of the U.S. government, the independent federal department referred to as the U.S. Social Security Administration, allows for people to receive a new Social Security card, in part through the same procedures as are observed for first registering for and receiving Social Security cards, as consist primarily of completion and submission of the SS-5 Form.

That being said, a U.S. citizen or legally registered and applicable resident of the U.S. otherwise eligible for a new Social Security card will be allowed up to three Social Security cards in all in the course of a single year, while no individual can receive more than 10 Social Security cards over the course of his or her entire life.

In regard to receiving new Social Security cards, as can then be used for a wide range of identification purposes, the U.S. Social Security Administration observes three distinct phases in applying for a new Social Security card. The first stage is the aforementioned required task of filling out the SS-5, while the second involves proving both one’s own identity as well as personal identity. The third and last stage to get a new Social Security card is submitting documentation.

What Should I Do if My Social Security Card Has Been Stolen

In the event of a stolen Social Security card, people should be aware that one of the most important matters to attend to, as is explained on the website of the U.S. Social Security Administration, is to ensure that one remembers the Social Security Number (SSN) thus indicated, as is more important than the Social Security card itself.

In this respect, a Social Security replacement card may be sought after as a response to a stolen Social Security card, but SSA does not hold that this option is necessary in every case, though it believes it to fulfill a useful purpose in most cases. Moreover, it should be noted that the Social Security Administration, despite the authority which it holds for most matters and concerns arising from this system, including the issuance of Social Security replacement card documents to people, does not act in stolen Social Security card matters.

One of the main concerns which can stem from the incidence of a stolen Social Security card is that the information contained on it will be used by the thief to access personal information and financial records of the rightful Social Security cardholder.

For that reason, a stolen Social Security card should be reported and responded to preemptively, simply not to SSA central offices. Instead, the Federal Trade Commission will receive reports of abuses committed with the stolen Social Security card. Alternately, people can refer to the source of the Internet Crime Complaint Center. A Social Security replacement card may also be applied for at this point.

How to Get a Social Security Card

People can get a Social Security card through the locally accessible offices of the U.S. Social Security Administration, as has the general authority over the Social Security system of the country, including over the issuing of Social Security cards. A Social Security system online inquiry can be directed to the specific source of the www.ssa.gov website, Social Security Online.

In general, to get a Social Security card does not involve paying any kind of fee. Among other things, a Social Security system online inquiry will reveal that to get a Social Security card, for the first time as well as, should the necessity arise, a new such Social Security card, will involve filling out and then sending in a SS-5 form, “Application for a Social Security Card.”

Additionally, either a Social Security system online inquiry or a referral in-person to a SSA representative will reveal that to get a Social Security for the first time in one’s life will require, specifically of people above the age of 12 that people go into the local offices of the Social Security Administration and make the application personally.

In such a case, a Social Security system online inquiry or telephone call cannot be used to get a Social Security card. Moreover, to get a Social Security card requires that a person prove, through a minimum of two pieces of documentation, his or her personal identity and legal status in the country, either as a recognized citizen or as some kind of authorized resident.

How Are the Numbers on my Social Security Card Chosen

People who are interested in carrying out a free Social Security number search may be curious, either as to their own legal status or that of others, as to how Social Security numbers are initially chosen.

In this regard, before carrying out the basic function of a search by Social Security number, U.S. citizens, as well as residents of the country legally granted either temporary working or permanent status, should be aware that assigning Social Security numbers, as well as administering the subsequent and consequent legal status of an individual under them, is under the control of the authority of the independent American federal department of the U.S. Social Security Administration.

While up to 1973 these digits, as can now come under the scrutiny of a search by Social Security number function, were issued by locally based and centrally empowered offices, since that point the central Social Security Administration offices have had both responsibility and direct involvement in the assigning of Social Security numbers.

That being said, a free Social Security number search will still produce a code which is determined, for the first three digits in particular of its nine-digit entirety, by the state and area where the Social Security number was first handed out. A search by Social Security number may turn up the fact that the value indicated by the digits increases in a westerly direction across the country. A free Social Security number search will thus show that West Coast residents have the “highest” Social Security numbers in the country.