I’m sad your sister didn’t know your birthdate 
Why would you argue with her over her leaving you some money?
And I would never have to ask my brother or sister for their SSN because ours are consecutive! And I’ve had my ex-husband’s memorized (because we were in the military and I had to give his all the time on medical stuff and to cash checks at the PX.) for so long that several times when asked for my own, I’ve rattle off his instead! Which is kind of funny since we’ve now been divorced longer than we were married. I’m sure he has mine on a bunch of old tax stuff…though come to think of it, I never gave him any old paperwork! But neither of us has decent enough credit to worry about the number being misused, anyhow.
But every year when I update life insurance stuff through work I have to search out the numbers for my kids. It’s just the way it is.
This is true. I just did this a few years ago.
For those policies etc which require a SSN, what would happen if someone wanted to name a beneficiary who didn’t have a US SSN? Back when I last worked Over There, my beneficiaries were the usual suspects (mother and siblings), none of which has a US SSN.
That’s a good question. I am probably one of the last generations to not get a SSN until it was actually needed. Nowadays, the kids get one when born, right? Or when the parents file, which is…<scratches head> Well, for some reason I keep thinking it needs to be done asap now. And now I need to look it up.
Anyway, I didn’t get mine until I was 15. I know the exact age because they’re distributed by area, and mine indicates I got it in Michigan, and I was only there a year.
Quick googling seems to indicate that the hospital will offer forms to apply for an SSN right away, which is much easier than later going down and proving the relationship another way, so I’m guessing it’s not required to do so at birth, but a helluva lot more convenient.