There seems to always be alternatives if you don’t have it, so I guess while you might not NEED it, it’s just easier to have it.
For those of you who say you haven’t needed your card–
Have you gotten a job in the last 20 years?
I’m 37, and I have needed my card for EVERY job that I have gotten. Once you accept a job offer, typically the very next thing the employer says is that they need a copy of your ID and SS card.
I’m older than you and I don’t remember ever using mine either. I do know where it is, sitting in the same box it’s been in for a very long time. It wasn’t really a big deal when I got mine in the early 70s, identify fraud and the like was barely a thing.
I left self employment over 8 years ago for a conventional job and no one asked for my SS card, and probably not any ID. I was already well known in the company and the owner personally approved my hiring so maybe that was a factor.
Every job I have had said they needed two forms of ID(With a very long list of what can be used as ID), or a passport. You can use the Social Security card as one of your two IDs, but you don’t necessarily have to.
I haven’t seen my card in over 35 years. My passport was sufficient proof of citizenship for my last hiring, which was about 15 years ago. I can’t remember exactly, but I’m assuming I used by Birth Certificate to get my passport. Interesting to note, I am asked to provide a birth certificate now and then, although never my social security card.
We write checks to 20-40 individuals every day at our scrap gold/coin buying business. Many ask where they can cash our business check. We tell them our local bank will cash it no charge but need two forms of ID. The forms of ID they take are–drivers license, SS card, passport or **credit ** card(NOT a debit or ATM card).
I needed mine about 15 years ago when renewing my drivers license in Ohio. My SS card was from 1960 so didn’t have security features they have in modern times. Had to get a new one.
I needed it at my last corporate job. Every now and then there was an employee audit and we had to go to HR to show our driver’s license and SS card to get our paychecks.
Yeah, when I was in college in the early-mid-90s, they posted our test scores by full social security number (without the name.) Seems inconceivable today.
When I got my last job, I realized that my SS card had gone walkabout without leaving a forwarding address.
They said a birth certificate was fine, so I used that.
I still have my card in my wallet (it’s a paper version and I think it’s orginal, which puts it at about 50 years old–I’m 62). Can’t remember the last time I was ask to provide it, I memorized it back in college and never forgot it, so there is no reason to haul it out. Have both DL and Passport along with other ID, so it’s never been an issue.
You need your SSN card or Birth Cert for Form I9, plus one other piece of ID. Or a Valid US Passport.
Those of you who have lost your SSN card should really apply to get a new one. You’ll need a certified Birth Cert. This is because if you need you SSN card, it takes a while to get one, so get it now, instead of when the delay will hurt.
I lost mine at least 20 years ago and I’ve never needed it.
Just read this on the official SSA website:
You can replace your Social Security card for free if it is lost or stolen. However, you may not need to get a replacement card. Knowing your Social Security number is what is important.
I think I needed my card…never. I can’t recall a single time in my 60 years in this country I’ve needed the physical card. Not for any job, including ones that needed serious background checks and clearances. Not for any Drivers License in either California or Alaska. The card itself is long gone. I can vaguely recall where it was, but that was back in 1976.
I guess as long as you can remeber you SS # you’ll be OK. I was asked for mine SS# when buying a car this week I almost forgot my # I haven’t been ask for it in so long . And it not our driving license anymore so we don’t need our SS card for this.
I’m confused about the people who say that getting a replacement Social Security card is difficult. I did so a few years ago, and it took ten minutes. All I needed was my birth certificate and driver’s license (and I had to fill out a form).
Then I found my old card, and now I have two.
They have tightened things up.
And it’s kinda silly logic “I have never needed my SSN card, ergo- I will never need one, despite the fact the government is really tightening up on things like this.”
I still have my original one, but I doubt I’ve had to produce it in the past 40 years.
It may be a valid form of ID, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a required one.
The Social Security card as ID is really dumb. It’s got to be the most easily forged card in existence and has no photo.
I don’t remember what I needed it for, but I had to get a new one several years ago after searching everywhere for it. It may have been for a job as my passport expired a while back, but I have a feeling that it was for something else that I just can’t remember. We ended up finding the old card years later inside a decorative mailbox that no one ever thought to look in before, so now I have two.