Jane Yamamoto-Burigsay
Courtesy: Social Security Administration
Jane Yamamoto-Burigsay is Social Security’s public affairs specialist in Hawai‘i.
March is Women’s History Month — a time to focus not just on the past, but also on the challenges women continue to face in the 21st century.
Ida May Fuller, the first American to receive a monthly Social Security benefit check, was born Sept. 6, 1874. Along with Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins — who was instrumental in the creation of the Social Security Act — Ida May Fuller was one of the famous women in Social Security’s early history. She received a check, amounting to $22.54, on Jan. 31, 1940. Back then, people understood that she would be one of millions who would be positively affected by retirement benefits.
Seventy-seven years after the issuance of that first check, Social Security continues to play a vital role in the lives of women. With longer life expectancies than men, women tend to live more years in retirement and have a greater chance of exhausting other sources of income. With the national average life expectancy for women in the United States rising, many women will have decades to enjoy retirement. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a girl born today can expect to live more than 80 years. As a result, experts generally agree that if women want to ensure that their retirement years are comfortable, they need to plan early and wisely.
What You Can Do
You can start with a visit to Social Security’s Retirement Estimator. There, in just a few minutes, you can get a personalized, instant estimate of your retirement benefits. Plug in different scenarios, such as retirement ages or projected earnings, to get an idea of how such things might change your future benefit amounts. You can find it at www.social
security.gov/estimator.
You should also visit Social Security’s financial planning website at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners. It provides detailed information about how marriage, widowhood, divorce, self-employment, government service, and other life or career events can affect your Social Security.
Your benefits are based on your earnings, so you should create your personal my Social Security account to verify that your earnings were reported correctly.
If you want more information about the role of Social Security in women’s lives today, Social Security has a booklet that you may find useful. It’s called Social Security: What Every Woman Should Know. You can find it online at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10127.html.
Jane Yamamoto-Burigsay is Social Security’s public affairs specialist in Hawai‘i.
GENERAL
Question: Can I get a new Social Security number if someone has stolen my identity?
Answer: We don’t routinely assign a new number to someone whose identity has been stolen. Only as a last resort should you consider requesting a new Social Security number. Changing your number may adversely affect your ability to interact with federal and state agencies, employers and others. This is because your financial, medical, employment and other records will be under your former Social Security number. We cannot guarantee that a new number will solve your problem. To learn more about your Social Security card and number, read our online publication Your Social Security Number and Card at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/.
