Since 1935, the Social Security Administration has been issuing numbers to permanent residents of the United States. Nine simple digits distinguish each American from his or her fellow residents. Today, assigned randomly and never recycled, a social security number is as unique an identifier as your fingerprints. (Although, in the past, duplicates are known to have been issued accidentally.) Show
Early on, SSNs were issued through the states, and the first three digits designated the state where the person obtained the number; some states had more than one number, and this continued through 1972. Beginning in 1973, the numbers and cards were issued centrally, from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in Baltimore, MD, with the first three digits being assigned based on the zip code included on the application. Most people can verify that their number coincides with the place where they obtained their number here. There is a general east to west pattern, although not perfect, in the assignment of the first three digits, with several exceptions. For example, New Hampshire is 001-003, Maine is 004-007 and Hawaii is 575-576. Places that fall even further out of the pattern include D.C. (575-576), Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (580-584, 596, 599), and Mississippi and Florida (both received 587-589 and 595 after they exhausted their initial assignments). The remaining digits of the social security number have little significance, other than as a unique identifier. The second two digits were initially designed to be the holder's date of birth, but this was quickly abandoned in place of using those as a group number to ensure the accuracy of the issuing process. The last four digits are simply a serial number. This all changed in June of 2011. In order to help protect the integrity of SSNs and to address the problem of insufficient new numbers in some states, the SSA stopped issuing numbers based on location in lieu of a system of "randomization" that included the following changes:
To date, 450+ million SSNs have been issued, but with just under 1 billion possible number combinations, there has never been a need to recycle numbers, and the SSA notes that it does "not reassign a Social Security number (SSN) after the number holder's death." Of course, at some point the numbers will run out and some change will need made to keep up that policy, perhaps adding a digit. But, for now, the answer to "What happens to your SSN when you die?" is absolutely nothing. It remains yours. Bonus Facts:
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Melissa writes for the wildly popular interesting fact website TodayIFoundOut.com. To subscribe to Today I Found Out's "Daily Knowledge" newsletter, click here or like them on Facebook here. You can also check 'em out on YouTube here. Image by Dmytro Mykhailov/Shutterstock What do you do with a Social Security number when someone dies?Apply for Survivors Benefits
You should give the funeral home the deceased person's Social Security number if you want them to make the report. If you need to report a death or apply for benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).
Can someone use a dead person's Social Security number?Identity thieves can strike even after death. An identity thief's use of a deceased person's Social Security number may create problems for family members. This type of identity theft also victimizes merchants, banks, and other businesses that provide goods and services to the thief.
Who is entitled to a deceased person's Social Security?Widow or widower, any age, with a child younger than age 16, gets 75% of the worker's benefit amount. Child gets 75% of the worker's benefit amount. There's a limit to the benefits we can pay to you and other family members each month. The limit varies between 150% and 180% of the deceased worker's benefit amount.
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