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.
I lost mine many years ago in one of the many times I have lost my wallet. I give out the number on a regular basis, but no one has ever asked to see the card. When I needed to replace my driver’s license another time I lost my wallet, I used my birth certificate as ID. I try to carry as few important pieces of information in my wallet as possible, for obvious reasons.
I have worked for the same company for over 20 years, so the job application issue hasn’t come up. I would hope that among my driver’s license, birth certificate and passport, I would have enough ID to satisfy a potential employer.
I just went to the Social Security website to see about a replacement, and these are the first lines:
First, realize you may not need a replacement card. You will rarely need to show it. Knowing your Social Security number is what is important.
So I guess I will hold off.
Sure they did…in 1993. When I got hired as a Professor 3 years ago (moonlighting) the university just had me write it in.
I’ve never needed it for a job. License or passport has always been enough.
If you present a valid U.S. passport,or any other document on List A of the I-9 form, the employer is legally prohibited from requiring additional documentation. (And a SS card is not proof of citizenship anyway.) Details here.
Mine is a small safe in our house. I don’t recall the last time I needed to show it to somebody. Once or twice in the last 15 years, maybe, when changing jobs. Our kids’ cards are there as well, and I think we’ve had to produce those on occasion.
I can’t imagine why I’d want to keep it on my person. It would just be easier to lose.
Add me to the list of people who haven’t seen theirs in 40 years or so. I keep possession of my kids’, however, and they do need to show it now and then for new jobs (or the employer says anyway). I snap a photo on the phone and text it to them. So far that has always worked.
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It’s been sitting in a drawer, laminated, from about the first week I received it, sometime in the last century. I’ve never carried it and never had to show it, except one time. That time was to obtain my very first passport.
I still have my original, revised 9-61 version, card that I received when I was two years old:
http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/ssnversions.html
It was issued by “The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare: Social Security Administration.”
It’s in my wallet, has been there ever since I started carrying wallets, is not laminated and is in pretty good shape for a 45-year old piece of paper. Probably in better shape than the guy carrying it… 
I never seemed to need it, so I literally shredded mine years ago. I’ve never needed it since, but I believe it is required in a very few rare circumstances. (Possibly when applying for Social Security benefits?) So I’ve looked into what’s required to replace it. There’s a PDF form that needs to be completed and then I need to schedule an in-person interview at the local Social Security office. And I believe you can only get a replacement card so many times in a lifetime.
Please don’t put my name on quotes from other people. Thanks.
Laminated one, and had it ruled invalid. Got a replacement. I keep both in a safe next to my birth certificate and only pull them out when necessary.
I haven’t been asked for it since I was a teenager. I’m 59 now. The work I do requires proof of citizenship(passport), criminal background checks, credit checks, and drug tests, but no Social Security card.
Looking at mine, there is no warning about lamination, though it does say “Not for identification”.
Seems odd to me. I’ll double-check with HR to be sure, but I know that at least as of six months ago our company required all applicants to present the physical card.
Interesting. Maybe It’s because I work in IT where there are a lot of foreign workers, so they are heavily audited, but every contract house I have worked (20+ places) demanded the physical card so they could copy it.
No card, no job, that simple.
And I did see one guy get told laminated wasn’t acceptable, and to go get a replacement.
If you have a passport and birth certificate I can’t see why the SS Card would be needed. I’ve never had a physical card and have managed to get hired many times without ever being asked for one.
I just checked with HR, and we require the physical card for photocopying purposes. No one cares if it’s laminated.
:: shrugs ::
Different industries. But I don’t believe that most Americans HAVE passports; I didn’t until I was about 35. Social security cards are much more common than passports.
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.
It’s in a fire safe. I have a passport, which is sufficient for I-9 (new job) identification on its own, so the card hasn’t been used in decades (probably it was last used to get my first passport when I was a young teen, can’t recall).
Even if you need the SS card as one of your I-9 IDs, do you actually get new jobs often enough to merit keeping it on you at all times? This isn’t meant to be a high-traffic card; mine’s 40+ years old and still looks new, without lamination.