# Could you possibly go through life without a Social Security Number? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891 "2010-10-30T17:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/21 "2010-10-31T04:26:54Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Do you need a SSN to vote? I have lived in/near Chicago for over 25 years. Are you kidding? In my area you don’t even need a _heartbeat_ to vote. 😃 I have never been asked for a SS# to vote in any election - and I’ve only missed 2 of 'em since I was 18. I don’t even recall needing to produce a SS# to register to vote, just proof of residency. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/22 "2010-10-31T04:31:10Z")
You don’t need a license to drive, just to drive _legally._ Some people in certain large cities don’t drive, anyway. And if you had a good friend who would make their standard legal functions available upon need, like check cashing and bank services, and you had a cash income, you could do just fine. Not many underground drug sales are made with checks or credit cards. Not a typical or easy existence, but it could work. See the story in _[Running on Empty](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096018/')_ about the underground economy of a family permanently on the lam. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/23 "2010-10-31T05:50:50Z")
Doesn’t anyone see how wrong it is to actually have to register with the government to get a job? Or that the government assigns an eight didget prison number? That it is actually Ok and fine for the government to take money from you to give you when you are older, like you are a small child? Isn’t it kind of insane that Warren Buffet actually gets a social security check? Paid for basically by workers, some minimum wage? It is amazing how many sheep just don’t care about social security and think that it is such a wonderful thing, when all it is is robbing the young to pay the old. Then when the 20 year old worker becomes 65 (or 70 or 75 or when the retirement age will become) that the value of their money that was stolen from them is worth pennies of what it was worth before? That this money could have been used for investments or purchases that would help the economy? **Social Security needs to be repealed** and give our workers their freedom back. But it will never happen because most Americans are retarded and listen to whatever puke is fed to them by their media and educational centers. I mean, Obama is President. That right there shows that we are sliding into an idiocracy. Go back to your “American Idol”, who gives a shit if your country burns? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/24 "2010-10-31T12:26:05Z")
> [@Captain\_Midnight](#): > > Or that the government assigns an eight didget prison number? Actually, it’s nine. > [@](#): > > That it is actually Ok and fine for the government to take money from you to give you when you are older, like you are a small child? A lot of people might as well be small children. If you left the average American to save on their own for retirement there would be a hell of a lot of old folks left with nothing at all - which is, in fact, what used to happen before we had social security. > [@](#): > > Isn’t it kind of insane that Warren Buffet actually gets a social security check? Paid for basically by workers, some minimum wage? Yes, that is nuts. But a lot of rich people are greedy bastards. > [@](#): > > It is amazing how many sheep just don’t care about social security and think that it is such a wonderful thing, when all it is is robbing the young to pay the old. Then when the 20 year old worker becomes 65 (or 70 or 75 or when the retirement age will become) that the value of their money that was stolen from them is worth pennies of what it was worth before? Left to their own devices, though a lot of those people would otherwise have nothing at retirement. Schooling, with rare exception, does not teach personal finance in this country. The average American is a moron in regards to money. If left to set up their own retirement many wouldn’t bother and many would screw it up. This would leave them worse off than with the present system. Which might be one reason so many currently support it. > [@](#): > > **Social Security needs to be repealed** and give our workers their freedom back. What, freedom to screw up? Freedom to enrich investment “advisors” like the current predators on Wall Street? Freedom to rely on company pensions that are yanked out from under them mid-retirement? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/25 "2010-10-31T12:36:20Z")
I read many years ago that the real problem between Social Security in the US and people like Warren Buffett was that Social Security contributions are capped, and his contribution is paid by, like, January 2. True? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/26 "2010-10-31T13:13:14Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I read many years ago that the real problem between Social Security in the US and people like Warren Buffett was that Social Security contributions are capped, and his contribution is paid by, like, January 2. True? Yes. Income over $106,800 is not taxed for Social Security. The maximum annual Social Security withholding is $6,621.60 > **[Social Security Wage Base](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Wage_Base)** > > For the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) tax or Social Security tax in the United States, the Social Security Wage Base (SSWB) is the maximum earned gross income or upper threshold on which a wage earner's Social Security tax may be imposed. The Social Security tax is one component of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA) and Self-employment tax, the other component being the Medicare tax. It is also the maximum amount of covered wages that are taken into account w... ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/27 "2010-10-31T15:41:43Z")
> [@Captain\_Midnight](#): > > Doesn’t anyone see how wrong it is to actually have to register with the government to get a job? Or that the government assigns an eight didget prison number? That it is actually Ok and fine for the government to take money from you to give you when you are older, like you are a small child? > > Isn’t it kind of insane that Warren Buffet actually gets a social security check? Paid for basically by workers, some minimum wage? > > It is amazing how many sheep just don’t care about social security and think that it is such a wonderful thing, when all it is is robbing the young to pay the old. Then when the 20 year old worker becomes 65 (or 70 or 75 or when the retirement age will become) that the value of their money that was stolen from them is worth pennies of what it was worth before? That this money could have been used for investments or purchases that would help the economy? > > **Social Security needs to be repealed** and give our workers their freedom back. But it will never happen because most Americans are retarded and listen to whatever puke is fed to them by their media and educational centers. I mean, Obama is President. That right there shows that we are sliding into an idiocracy. Go back to your “American Idol”, who gives a shit if your country burns? **[Moderator Warning]** **Captain Midnight** , political commentary of this kind is not permitted in GQ. Neither are rants, which belong in the Pit. While I usually issue moderator notes for mild political jabs, I think this is sufficiently over the top to merit a warning. Colibri General Questions Moderator PS. Other posters should refrain from debating **Captain Midnight** here. If you wish to dispute his post, please take it to GD or the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/28 "2010-10-31T22:18:14Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Parents have to supply a social security number for [any child they wish to list as an exemption](http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_publink1000170876): The OP’s parents might not have needed one though. I’d have to look up the date of the change, but an SSN has only been required to claim dependents for about 30 years. If the poster who claimed to not have one until 18 is currently 60+, then it would make sense that the parents never needed it to file their taxes. (Interestingly, something like 4 million dependents stopped being claimed once the IRS required SSNs.) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/29 "2010-10-31T23:10:25Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I read many years ago that the real problem between Social Security in the US and people like Warren Buffett was that Social Security contributions are capped, and his contribution is paid by, like, January 2. True? Yes, contributions are capped, because benefits are also capped. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/30 "2010-11-01T00:08:02Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The OP’s parents might not have needed one though. I’d have to look up the date of the change, but an SSN has only been required to claim dependents for about 30 years. If the poster who claimed to not have one until 18 is currently 60+, then it would make sense that the parents never needed it to file their taxes. The change is more recent than 30 years ago - I’m only in my mid-40’s, and it’s true, I didn’t have one until I was 18. Even obtained a passport at 17 to travel to France without one back in the day. I know people today sometimes find that flabbergasting, but it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891/31 "2010-11-01T00:27:26Z")
The change had to be very close to 30 years ago. I am only a few months off of 30 years old, and I very vaguely recall that my parents mentioned it was something extremely new to get a newborn baby a SSN right after I was born. No, I didn’t remember it from right after my birth, but they’ve discussed it with relatives at some time in the past that it formed in my memory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-possibly-go-through-life-without-a-social-security-number/558891.md?page=1)