# Do you have a social security card? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943 "2019-08-20T16:07:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/41 "2019-08-20T22:26:05Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Yes, I keep it with my physical birth certificate and my passport. It’s the original one I got around age 18 and it has my old signature on it, which looks nothing like my current signature. Sounds like me, but I’m pretty sure I got mine when I was 16 (when I started my first “real” - athough parttime – job). It’s in a file folder in one of my desk drawers with other vital records stuff. For years, I used to have a metal file box (about 10 x 12 x 6) that my mom gave me that was the same as the one she used. It was always called “the can.” When my brother moved to Costa Rica, he left some of his paperwork with us in one of these, and when something comes in the mail that he wants us to keep for him, he just says “put it in the can.” ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/42 "2019-08-20T22:34:16Z")
Too late for the edit window: Edited to add: My old company used to use the ssn as the employee id number !!! I can still remember the _huge_ kerfuffle when my group selected a population for a mailing and sent the file to the mailroom with the _ssns still on the address_ that _showed_ in the window of the envelope. Kerfuffle! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/43 "2019-08-20T23:06:43Z")
I lost mine back in about 1968. I’ve never been asked for it. My wife still has her original at age 72. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/44 "2019-08-20T23:34:32Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I’m 57. Haven’t seen mine (or needed it) in about 45 years. What did you use it for when you were 12? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/45 "2019-08-20T23:38:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > What did you use it for when you were 12? No idea. My parents must have oapplied for it ETA. Although I had one around age 12, I last saw it in my mid 20s. So, yes, my math was off ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/46 "2019-08-20T23:50:16Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I didn’t laminate mine… It is a good idea to NOT laminate your Social Security card, because some identity verification policies, including Real ID, will not accept a laminated card. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/47 "2019-08-21T00:01:40Z")
I got a metal engraved card after high school. I always referred to the SSN and filled out job applications. I never trusted my memory. I’m not sure what happened to the paper original. It’s probably in a wallet that I discarded 40 years ago. I’ve never been asked for it. I guess it’s time to get a replacement SSN card. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/48 "2019-08-21T00:38:22Z")
I’m 44, and I don’t recall ever seeing my social security card. I’m sure at some point I must have needed to produce it for something (though I’m not sure what. Drivers license?) But I have never had need for it in my adult life, and I simply have no recollection of ever seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/49 "2019-08-21T00:46:15Z")
I’m 52, and I still have the one I signed when I was probably twelve, judging by the handwriting. When I was in college I worked at a video store where ewe had a laminating machine (for membership cards); I laminated my SS card so it wouldn’t fall apart. I know it’s in a drawer somewhere in the house now, but I can’t recall where. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/50 "2019-08-21T00:55:19Z")
Yes. I still have my original card from 1970. I have carried it in my wallet ever since I got it. I have apparently never lost a wallet. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/51 "2019-08-21T01:07:32Z")
I have my original card somewhere - I usually use my passport for I-9 purposes, but I recall seeing my SS card in the not-too-distant past. I’ve had it since I was a little kid; I don’t know when my parents got it for me. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/52 "2019-08-21T03:55:00Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > What did you use it for when you were 12? I think it was a thing back then. I got mine around age 10-12 late 60s/very early 70s. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/53 "2019-08-21T04:04:24Z")
Haven’t seen mine since I was a young teen, 40+ years ago. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/54 "2019-08-21T04:45:05Z")
Yep, have my original paper (gawd, who thought that was a good idea?) complete with childish-looking-to-me signature. My parents were naturalized when I was, dunno, 7 ish, so it would date back to the mid 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/55 "2019-08-21T05:36:29Z")
I actually have two copies. I got a replacement for my original lost one when I had to have it for a job. Then I found the original several months later. Both now reside in the important stuff storage safe. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/56 "2019-08-21T07:43:41Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’ve also got my original birth certificate, the one that was issued when I was born over 39 years ago. It looks like it was typed on an actual typewriter! I’m so old, mine’s in hieroglyphics. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/57 "2019-08-21T08:39:50Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Yep, have my original paper (gawd, who thought that was a good idea?) complete with childish-looking-to-me signature. I don’t think it was really even an _idea_ at the time they took their current form. Paper was what every other document was made of too (passports had recently taken the form of booklets with hard covers, but were just plain paper inside with a stuck-on photograph, and in any case almost nobody had one). And since then, it’s just inertia. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/58 "2019-08-21T08:56:32Z")
I don’t have mine any more. In the unlikely event that I ever move to the US again I’ll need to apply for a new one (the card only, the number I remember by heart). Spain has two equivalents used for different purposes: my UHC card has the _Número de la Seguridad Social_; my passport, National ID and Driver’s license have my Tax ID (in a slightly different format for the passport and the other two). They’re both linked, so if I need to access the healthcare system and don’t have my card I can just show any of the other three. I never learned my Swiss one by heart but I think my old insurance card which I keep as a souvenir does have it; as in the US, the same number works for all tax purposes. In any case, if I ever move to Switzerland again I expect they’ll be able to find my old number. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/59 "2019-08-21T09:07:01Z")
I had a job with the state for about 10 minutes and I had to order a copy of it to finalize the paperwork. Still got the card in my wallet but that job was ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943/60 "2019-08-21T09:53:34Z")
I have the one I got reissued with my new name 12 years ago after my name change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-social-security-card/838943.md?page=4)