Yes, actually, you should lock it up in a safe deposit box or a fire safe.
Learn from my mistake: fire safes can become humid mold machines. Air them out occasionally and use dessicants. I lost a passport that way. It made my throat close up to just handle it.
Well, I don’t tend to keep my paperwork moist.
Maybe don’t put tacos in there next time
It doesn’t matter if it feels moist, it can have residual humidity in it. Maybe you live in a drier area and haven’t had that problem.
I live in the Pacific Northwest, which I lovingly describe as constantly moist. This is not a dry area.
If your humidity is high enough for mold to start growing spontaneously, paper is going to feel damp. Maybe you should try living indoors, or do away with the pools of stagnant water you leave around. You should be able to notice the difference in how paper feels.
And it can be protected by a card sleeve like people use for trading/sports cards, this way it’s not a permanent protection.
I’ve had the same leather wallet for like 14 years and the card fits so perfectly in the little card holder without any bending or tearing. I don’t recommend it for people who drink or ride motorcycles, but for my purposes it might as well outlive me.
Yeah, I don’t think carrying around a social security card is the best idea
In fact, for cards printed 2002 and up it literally says “do not carry with you” right on it.
You absolutely should not carry your social security card with you. Your social security number, name and address, is pretty much all it takes to take out a loan in your name. You lose your wallet, you are absolutely fucked.
Don’t lose your wallet, then. 14 years has been a pretty good run for me so far.
If you don’t regularly have any use for it, then that’s understandable to store it away somewhere safe, perhaps even in a leather wallet hidden away to prevent folding, water damage, etc.
Curious why you need it in a daily basis?
The hidden shrine.
Americans: WE DON’T WANT ID! IT GIVES THE GOVERNMENT TOO MUCH POWER!!
Also Americans:
Don’t get it twisted, we don’t want to have to use the stupid social security card as ID, either. As a matter of fact, if you have one that’s old enough it says “For Social Security and Tax Purposes – Not For Identification” right on it.
…But every organization in the country, including the government, now uses your SSN and SSN card as a form of identification anyway, and will randomly demand to see the card itself as “proof.”
Canada went the opposite direction - it is now impossible to get an SIN (SSN equivalent), and if you forget it, you have to go to a government office for them to print out a sheet on standard letter sized paper that clearly states to memorise and destroy it.
But then it appears on all my tax documents that I’m supposed to keep.
Logic doesn’t matter here. The guy you’re responding to just wants to grab at low hanging fruit as a “zing” to Americans.
Come on you can do better.
My understanding is that it’s printed on such flimsy paper as a sort of identity loss protection. If you lose it somewhere it’ll degrade quickly to the point it’s unusable, hopefully before someone else tries to use it. The downside is, of course, that if you don’t protect it with supreme care, it will also degrade to the point it’s unusable.
My mom laminated mine. Never had an issue.
Maybe it was cold lamination? Honestly I didn’t know you couldn’t laminate a social security card.
You can’t, but since you (almost) never need the physical card, you could go a long time without anyone caring. It’s possible that if some government agency needs to see it, they may get grumpy and not accept a laminated card. I know it’s happened to some people with my employer.
immigrant here. I had to show it a few times for really minor stuff like booking my driving test.
I took a wry pleasure in saying, “are you sure? It literally says right on it not to show you.” But of course would quickly cave cuz you know I need to have a driving license.
The reason given is that it might interfere with the “security features”. Honestly, if you use a matte, high quality lamination pouch, it will most likely work just fine and you won’t ever have issues.
You can get a replacement card pretty easily. You just can’t get a replacement too many times (I think its 4 or 5) before they become annoying about it.
Now you need to show up in person to an office, and depending on where you are and how many staff got cut that can be difficult.
I looked it up, recently; supposedly only 3 replacement requests in a year and only allowed 10 in your entire lifetime.
What happens if you use up all 10? They kick you out?
It took me 45 mins at the social security office to get a new one. It ain’t that serious
Do it without an id or address. You can’t get an id without an address and you can’t get the card without your id or birth certificate which you also need an id and address. You can’t get a job without an ss number. So if you don’t at least know your number, then you’re fucked.
:pinches bridge of nose:
I’m reminded of talking with bright eyed product guys at work.
It’s not enough to cover the happy path. You have to consider all the edge and corner cases, too. Sometimes people don’t have all the documents they “need” to get a new card. Every hoop you jump through takes a toll, emotionally and in opportunity costs.
You’ve made a classic blunder, OP. I have your name and social security number now!
I keep mine in a plastic sandwich bag
I think my Dad has mine filed in a drawer somewhere. I’ve literally never once used the actual card.
New York State requires you to present the actual card to get a license (at least in some circumstances). It was a whole ordeal for me.
You ever had a job? Every job I’ve had wanted to photocopy the original card along with my ID
I’ve never had a job ask for it. The most they’ve asked for is two forms of id and I used drivers license and passport.
Your SS card is a joke. You can flush it down the toilet. If you need a new one it’s like a 5 minute visit.
Uh… Americans have a lifetime maximum number of reprints.
What are you doing that requires you to replace your card more than 10 times?
Homelessness, house fires, theft, things that are only going to be more common over time?
If all those things happen to you to the effect that you need to replace your card TEN fucking times then you have much bigger issues than your need for a useless card.
It’s not useless, unless you have a passport you are required to have a SS card for employment; and yes some people have bad fortune. In failed states like the US there’s no real safety net so all additional pointless barriers hurt extra worse for those few percent that are extra unfortunate.
I’ve had mine stored safely in an old wallet in a random drawer somewhere in my house for… My entire life at this point.
My mom laminated both mine and my sister‘s card back in the 80s and we’ve never had any issues with it at all. I opened my first bank account after high school the bank teller lady looked at it and said “wow that is clever!”
My old card was laminated, that and a birth certificate. Dmv refused to take either because of the lamination.
Been there, done that (not American, similar scenario, different card). I felt the person at the counter wasn’t in mood and was trying to make my day worse. Just saying “You legally have to” and if not they won’t budget, “I would like to speak with your superior”.
And is also required to be sent to Banks and other organizations that are historically terrible at cybersecurity.
