Social Security law as an element of the United States legal system can be traced back to the strained economic circumstances of the Great Depression, in which senior citizens were placed particularly in harm’s way as incomes and employment opportunities plummeted.

In this context, the Social Security Act was carried out in 1935 as one of the first ambitious measures of the newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt for realizing the ability of the government to step in and take an ambitious role in reversing the suffering of economic misfortune. In this regard, the Social Security Act of 1935 is currently regarded as an element of the Depression-era New Deal program pursued by the Roosevelt administration.

The Social Security law was initially drafted by a Presidentially-appointed committee, one which was devoted to the subject of Economic Security, and headed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkin. The Social Security Act, having passed through Congress, was then signed into law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935.

People interested in looking into the formal wording of the Social Security Act can find it referred to as Chapter 531, 49 Statute 620. Moreover, Social Security act language is contained in United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 7. Title I of the Social Security Act dispensed funds for state government use toward helping older people, while Title III pertained to insurance for those currently employed, Title IV is on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Title V on Maternal and Child Welfare, and Title X concerns blind people.

The Social Security system allows for the ability of the Social Security income received by an individual registered in the system to affect the tax bracket in which he or she is placed by the IRS. Moreover, the Social Security System also provides for an additional program, as is placed outside of the main context of the overall Social Security program, as administers Social Security income to people who are found to have a high degree of financial need, and is referred to as Supplemental Security Income.

The main source of Social Security Income provided to people enrolled into the Social Security system and eligible for its benefits consists of the Social Security taxes as are imposed on all taxpayers within the country. In this regard, the Supplemental Security Income program is not funded through those tax revenues specifically generated for the Social Security system, but rather from the general store of taxes collected by the U.S. government.

One difference in Social Security income in regard to these avenues for benefits is that Supplemental Security Income is marked as being exempt from taxation, as is not the case for the main kind of Social Security Income. Publication 915 of the Social Security System, as is entitled Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits, will allow people to figure out the impact on their Social Security Income.

The taxability of benefits provided under the Social Security system can be looked into through comparison of that person’s filing status with half their benefits or the entirety of other areas of income.

 

As part of the ongoing governmental effort to correct the effects of the recent globally-based financial downturn, the Barack Obama Presidential administration has proposed a Social Security stimulus program specific to 2010. In this way, a Social Security stimulus check would be made available to be paid out to people who are already eligible for and in the process of receiving the financial benefits of the Social Security program.

The concept of the Social Security stimulus program was to provide an additional $250 to people in the system. That being said, the Social Security stimulus check legislation, as was intended to have been provided in the first 2010 financial quarter, appears to have stalled. Political commentators and observers believe that the Social Security stimulus has stalled in Congress and been defeated by political opposition.

The proposal behind the $250 Social Security stimulus check was to provide this form of a benefit not only to people registered with the Social Security system, but in addition to those who had provided military service and were on disability insurance, as well as recipients of the SSI (Supplemental Security Income) insurance.

The Social Security stimulus program was not conceived as being limited to individuals based upon the demonstration of financial need, but in all cases. Moreover, a Social Security stimulus check could be provided whether or not the potential recipient was employed at the time or not. The entire price tag of the Social Security stimulus check proposal was, accordingly, estimated at $13 billion.

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.

Social security office locations can be looked into by entering a zip code into an online search engine provided by the Social Security office. People can carry out local Social Security Office locations inquiries in this way through the Internet-provided Social Security Office Locator.

Moreover, queries as to Social Security office locations can also be looked into as to the services offered to Americans living abroad. In addition to Social Security office locations as are made available for people who are living out of the country, the website also contains an advisory as to Special Instructions for Users Who are Blind. 

Social Security Office Locations may be necessary for people to look into, as is one case, in the event that the Social Security held by the individual has been rendered unusable in some way, whether by being damaged or lost. Social Security office locations can be looked into with specific circumstances for the particular locations of the Maricopa County and Apache Junction Area of Arizona, as includes the city of Phoenix, the Greater Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of Minneapolis, the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, Orlando, Florida, and Sacramento County, California.

People can receive a Social Security card at one of these Social Security office locations either by going themselves into a center for card replacement or, alternately, by mailing in a written request for this service to one of these Social Security office locations. Direct referrals to Social Security office locations are necessary for first-time registrations with Social Security numbers.

The wide-ranging program of retirement benefits as is provided for United States citizens in the form of the Social Security program is under the control of the Social Security Administration. Social Security Admin functions are provided through the federal government in particular and are further noted as being placed outside of the oversight of a larger department in the executive branch of the U.S. government.

As with other independent areas of the federal government, the powers and responsibilities of the US Social Security Administration are provided for through an act of Congress, as in this case is the specific legislative package of the Social Security Act, as was passed in 1935 and signed into effect by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Moreover, the laws under which Social Security Admin is carried out are spelled out in the language contained of Title 42. Chapter 7, Section 901 of the United States Code gives the Social Security Administration power over this program.

As of 2010, the US Social Security Administration was under the oversight of Commissioner Michael J. Astrue. In that same period, the Social Security Administration workforce consisted of 62,000 employees. Moreover, the estimated budget of the Social Security Admin governmental functions was announced to amount to $657 billion.

The main US Social Security Administration offices are centered out of Woodlawn, Maryland, which is located near Baltimore. The Social Security Administration further includes 10 overall regional offices, with authority, in all, over up to around 1300 offices located around the country.

Social Security disability benefits are provided to people according to two basic approaches, as comprise the basic method represented by the disability insurance option maintained under the Social Security title as well as the Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, option.

The website maintained by the Social Security governmental program can be referred to as to the potential benefits and enforced social security disability requirements of the first kind of program. In this regard, the larger benefits of the Social Security disability program can be seen, again according to the governmental website, through the statistical finding of a 30% chance implicit in a 20-year old member of the U.S. workforce of encountering the need for Social Security disability insurance in some form over the full course of his or her working life.

The formulation of Social Security disability requirements have been enacted and put into place in the legal system of the United States in regard to the employability of the particular individual who has been adversely affected. In this regard, the Social Security disability definition which has been enacted can be observed as being stricter than that held by other areas of the United States legal system.

In particular, Social Security disability requirements are formulated toward either a year-long suspension from the ability to work, or one which lasts for longer, or a condition predicted to be fatal. Social security disability requirements will, additionally, provide to some extent for the distribution of funds to the family of the individual thus covered, rather than the person himself or herself.