Basics of Social Security and Your Social Security Number

As an American citizen or a legal resident of the U.S., how much do you know about Social Security? Here are some very important things you ought to know about it.

Social Security is a federal law enacted in 1935 as one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. As the title itself suggest, Social Security provides security for individuals from future economic downfall due to physical limitations.

Particularly, it is for the elderly, survivors, and disabled workers and their families.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is the one in charge of the Social Security program. SSA has the task of implementing the guidelines, technicalities, legalities, paperwork and other procedures involved in claiming for Social Security benefits.

Social security is also concerned with retirement benefits for its members. It also extends benefits to the child or children beneficiaries of a member entitled to receive benefits but have already passed away.

Since 1965, Social Security also imparts health insurance benefits to eligible persons under the Medicare/Medicaid programs. Many other programs have also been implemented involving the needy population of the country, as beneficiaries.

Before benefits are granted, however, you have to satisfy all the requirements set by the SSA.

The basic operation of Social Security revolves around this manner: The would-be members work and pay their respective Social Security contributions. When they retire, the Social Security provides them the retirement benefits they are entitled to base on certain computations.

Likewise, if a member became disabled before their target retirement, they still get to avail of disability benefits. Their spouse and children can also receive monthly benefits.

The SSA provides members with their individual SSN or Social Security Number. The underlying principle behind the need to issue the SSN is to utilize it in facilitating the claims and benefits processing.

Every Social Security member is appointed with a unique number combination different from everyone else. This means that it is not possible for two members to have the same Social Security Number (SSN).

Members have the Social Security Account that can be accessed only through their Social Security Number and no one else’s.

These individual member’s accounts is used by the Social Security to maintain and organize the records of the respective member. Furthermore, they also account for the earnings and the benefits verifications under the Social Security records.

Our employers utilize our Social Security numbers to pay for our contributions, together with their counterpart contribution. The SSN is also used by many financial institutions, which record the amount of interest Social Security members earn from them.

Another important government department that makes use of our SSN is the Internal Revenue. They use our SSN to determine the amount of tax a Social Security member is obliged to pay. A member’s Social Security account provides many references for both government as well as private businesses, especially when they are searching for information about their employees.

Nevertheless, there is no need to worry about identity theft. It is not as if our accounts are open to all. Any information inside the Social Security Account of a member cannot be released without consent from the concerned member.

A double safety net is that, unless the law permits the release of any data only then can any provision from the member’s account be released.

It is important not to lose your SSN. If you lost your SSN, it is important to apply immediately for another card by calling the SSA hotline.

Do not forget how important Social Security is to our lives. Be sure to safeguard that information at all times.