# How do YOU keep your social security card intact? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 4, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486 "2013-12-04T16:23:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/41 "2013-12-04T18:40:00Z")
I have one that’s just kind of been laying around since I was, eh, 12 or something. If I needed it, I’d just go dig around in some drawers at home. Only once in the past many years have I been told that I needed to prove my SSN. It was to get a building pass. I brought a recent pay stub because they used to have Socials on them, but I guess the format was changed a few years earlier and I just didn’t notice. So they guy asks me to show my ID and verification of my SSN, and I give him my drivers license and the pay stub. He looks at it for a while, and says he can’t find my number. I look at it, and damn, it’s not there. Then he says, “Well, if I know how much you’re paid a year, I think that will suffice for verifying your identity.” And that was that. I use my passport for times that I need something more official than a drivers license for ID and citizenship purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/42 "2013-12-04T18:50:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I just checked with HR, and we require the physical card for photocopying purposes. No one cares if it’s laminated. Since I’ve never had one in my possession I’d have to have a talk with HR. > [@](#): > > Different industries. What industry are you in? I’m in security software. > [@](#): > > I won’t bother HR with this as I don’t want them to think I am looking over their shoulder, but I don’t think we’d take a passport in lieu of the card. According to [CIS](http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-9.pdf) they have to, unless they need the SS Card for some other reason. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/43 "2013-12-04T18:55:24Z")
I’ve not seen my SS card for several decades. I agree that for such an Extremely Important Document™ it was pathetically flimsy. The Nevada Dept. of Motor Vehicles once insisted on proof of SS number to give me a driver’s license. They’d accept a paystub or photocopy of 1040(!) instead of the SS card, but I had nothing. (I went to library, got a blank 1040, filled it out randomly but with my correct SSN, photocopied it, crumpled it a bit … and got my driver’s license! 😉 ) > [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Go to a SS office and get a new one. Keep the replacement at home in a safe. Is that easy to do? When I applied for SS (I’m 64 now) I asked how to get a replacement card and they referred me to some horrendous procedure, requiring the SSN’s of both my parents’ – long deceased – etc. I abandoned this process when a friend told me SS card wasn’t needed for benefits _even though my e-mail to SS made clear I wanted the SS card replacement just to apply for benefits_. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/44 "2013-12-04T19:02:48Z")
Obviously I’ve had a passport since I was a small child (how else did I come overseas)? And the social security card is also kind of a mark of pride; i.e., I am a true and honest citizen, look, I even have a social security card! But all that aside, I’ve needed it recently for the following things: Getting this job applying to college using it to get a replacement for my passport (my mom lost it). and I just needed it again to get into a work-study program at school That’s four times, two of which are just in the last three years. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/45 "2013-12-04T19:33:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **astorian** , what do you do when applying for a job, and they want two forms of ID? Do you have some other proof of citizenship? Or do they just take the number and pretend they saw the physical card? > > To the OP, I keep mine in my wallet, and always have. It’s got a stain of who-knows-what on one edge, but it’s not physically degraded at all. It’s in one of those clear plastic sleeves in the wallet for holding cards, and I guess that’s been protection enough. Well, I’ve only had 2 jobs in the last 20 years or so. Regardless, nobody ever asked to see a Social Security card. I filled in the number on the applications, and that seemed to be enough. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/46 "2013-12-04T19:42:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **astorian** , what do you do when applying for a job, and they want two forms of ID? Do you have some other proof of citizenship? Or do they just take the number and pretend they saw the physical card? “_Other_ proof of citizenship”? The Social Security card doesn’t prove citizenship, as permanent resident aliens may have them. It _is_ proof of employment authorization, but a passport is even better, as it’s also proof of identity. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/47 "2013-12-04T19:50:04Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > My card, despite saying on the back, “This card is invalid if laminated”, is laminated. I laminated mine many years ago. I just looked at it, and it doesn’t have any such warning on it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/48 "2013-12-04T20:03:59Z")
Thinking back over quite a long period of time, and I don’t think I’ve **ever** been asked to produce the physical card. Not at 13 different colleges/universities, not at any job (including ones where I was bonded/had massive background checks), not _ever_. Just knowing the number was sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/49 "2013-12-04T20:19:14Z")
Mine is in our safety deposit box. I don’t remember the last time I’ve had to show it, but I’ve had a passport since I was 9, over 50 years ago. It used to be easier to apply for one. When I was in college I got one for our dorm lounge, as the first step in a hack to get the lounge admitted to MIT. Never went further, alas. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/50 "2013-12-04T20:25:04Z")
Mine is in a desk drawer in a hard plastic sleeve, the sort you’d put a baseball card in. Nominally the sleeve is to protect it but really it just makes the card “bigger” & thicker and thus easier to find among the other items when I need to find it. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/51 "2013-12-04T20:27:33Z")
I don’t have a SS card. I did when I was a kid, but it long ago fell apart. I’ve never been asked for it. I have a passport, a drivers license and a birth certificate. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/52 "2013-12-04T20:27:39Z")
Memorized the number and stowed it in the lockbox decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/53 "2013-12-04T20:27:51Z")
Mine is intact without lamination. I’ve had to produce it occasionally but not very often. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get a replacement, you could maybe even do it online or over the phone. I applied for Social Security over the phone and just gave them my number. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/54 "2013-12-04T20:27:54Z")
I keep mine in a pocket of my billfold. It’s unlaminated and I’ve had it since the mid-'60s, and while fully intact it’s a pretty sad looking little piece of paper by now. My signature is almost completely gone and even my name, which was typed in by the government at the time, is growing faint. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/55 "2013-12-04T20:50:59Z")
Mine lives in a drawer. I got a new card with my new name when I got married, which was 20+ yrs ago, and the card’s not laminated but is in pretty good shape. I needed it AND my passport AND my TN driver’s license just the other day to get a new SC license and register my car & truck. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/56 "2013-12-04T21:19:14Z")
I keep mine intact by putting it in my wallet and leaving it there. I haven’t lost my wallet or dropped it in a lake, so it’s in about the same condition it was in when I got it in 1975. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/57 "2013-12-04T21:43:11Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Please don’t put my name on quotes from other people. Thanks. Sorry about that. I think I was aiming for the post above yours and missed. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/58 "2013-12-04T22:35:44Z")
I carried in my wallet for over 30 years. Now, I keep it in a safe location to prevent identity theft if I lose my wallet. But it’s still in fine shape. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/59 "2013-12-05T00:42:15Z")
I have not had a physical SS card in probably the last 40 years or so. No one has ever asked to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486/60 "2013-12-05T07:33:54Z")
What is this phobia that government agencies have about people laminating their pwecious magic cards? Back in the day when drivers licenses were paper, they also were illegal to laminate. It said on the card, and I think it was also a real law in the Vehicle Code somewhere (IIRC). My card, at the time, was years old and tattered at the edges, so I put scotch tape (the dull matte kind) all around the edges. One day I had to show it at the DMV for some reason, and the clerk started giving me shit for “laminating” my card, threatening that I could be arrested. I gave her shit right back and demanded to have the office manager come discuss it with me. The manager didn’t seem to see any problem with it. As for my social security card, it’s been in my succession of wallets for 30+ years, [del]without lamination[/del] … Uh, let me revise that. Having just looked at it, I see that I’ve covered the whole card, front and back, with scotch tape, if you call that “lamination”. I can’t see anywhere that it says not to. As often as I have to show it, which is approximately never, it’s not going to matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-keep-your-social-security-card-intact/675486.md?page=4)