<p>Did your son or daughter take this to school with them???? We already set up a bank account.</p>
<p>I think that my S took a copy of the back and front of his Social Security card. We kept the original at home.</p>
<p>Good idea!</p>
<p>I was surprised to learn that son's school required he SHOW his ORIGINAL social security card when signing up for an on campus workstudy job.
I was nervous about letting the original out there in the world.....wasn't sure we'd ever see it at home again. Luckily, it did return.</p>
<p>You do need it for a work-study job (I had to go back home and find mine). Apparently a lot of students here have them and carry them around, because whenever I read reports about someone having their wallet stolen, they list their social security card as one of the things missing. Maybe you should remind your kids that carrying it around everywhere is a Very Bad Idea...</p>
<p>Exactly!
Use it then put it away in that 'safe place'......like the one I have that I often forget the location of!!</p>
<p>I had never thought about taking my Social Security card until I read this thread, but like some other people have said, you may need to have your card to get a job. I had to show my card when I got a summer job back at home. Your Social Security card is one of the things that you can use to prove employment eligibility to fill out your I-9</a> Form <a href=".pdf">i</a>*. It's technically not required, but your other option is taking your passport or your birth certificate.</p>
<p>If you have a passport, that is currently the trump document to provide for any government papers. This is mostly because of the extensive ID required to get one. Social security cards, I've discovered, can cause problems if there's an error, which is rare- for example, I discovered this spring that for eighteen years my birthdate had been incorrectly entered on my social security information. When the number is looked up, it doesn't match my birth certificate. This was a clerical error somewhere but it caused me huge headaches with the IRS and SSA.</p>
<p>Thankfully, I've got my passport and could use that to assure my identity. So, if you've got a passport, bring that, and stash it where you don't need it. I've needed mine often in the last few years.</p>
<p>uvmlauren, thanks for that tip. My son's passport is here, he is incoming freshman, I will send it with him, you never know. Maybe one of his roommates will offer him a great trip overseas over Thanksgiving or something.....lol.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if SSA still does this, but years ago I got duplicate cards for each of my children so that they could take cards wherever they needed and I kept original at home. Most employers do not realize they are duplicates (color of card is just slightly different).</p>
<p>Before our gal left for college I made a copy of EVERYTHING - both sides - SS card - drivers liscense - birth certificate - certifications of any kind (CPR/lifeguard/etc...) - car insurance card - and anything else that could possibly have to be replaced if she lost it - keep it all in a file for easy access. Have actually had to dig something out of that file on occassion.</p>
<p>Passport - original - is kept at home - if needed it can be overnighted to kiddo - but is harder/takes time to replace if lost. Everything else can be replaced alot easier.</p>
<p>Actually - the SS card is the easiest to utilize - and legally the original - or legal copy like above - must be presented to an employer - if that is the form of id of chosen. I personally tell our kiddos to keep it in a safe place - til needed - then put it back - not to carry it around with them. The pass port - the same thing - if they have it - keep it in a very safe place and only produce it when needed.</p>
<p>I think we have not encouraged our gal to have passport with her - makes it more tempting to want to leave tera firma of USofA LOL - we have strongly discouraged them from that - unless necessary to. Fuddy Duddy - I know LOL.</p>
<p>I'm a student, but I've been holding on to my own social security card for a while now. I have the number memorized anyway, so why not have the actual card? You never know when you'll need it, and we, as young adults, will have to take it and be responsible for knowing where it is all the time sooner or later. Why not have that be as we go off to college? It's just a thought.</p>
<p>OOO ^^ I agree - but with all the new responsibility especially for a freshman - we just figured copies at home would be helpful if the originals were lost somehow - just a a safe gap. A SS card is important to have in ones possession.</p>
<p>Might want to check with the school. Son did not have work study but he played trumpet for commencement. They would pay him $100. They had to have his SS card. Not his birth certificate, not his passport, his SS card. Fortunately, we are just an hour away. I took a long lunch so I could drive the card up, otherwise the performance would become volunteer work. Don't know why the strict rule for the school. His passport had worked for everything else in the past. Son knew he needed the card but thought he could provide it later and still be paid.<br>
LA</p>
<p>I've never needed my social security card for anything. I whip out a passport and everyone is usually happy. I've used this for my I9 and a pile of other government documents.</p>
<p>seeing as you need a social security card and a birth certificate to be issued a passport, most will accept the passport in the place of multiple other forms of ID. I know my social security number but since my school does not identify students by their SSNs we don't need them. </p>
<p>That is bizarre that they required only his SS card, but it's probably because they track students by their SSN, in which case they'd need to verify it to pay him.</p>
<p>I don't have a passport, so I have my license and SS card as my 2 forms of ID. The only thing I don't keep for myself is my birth certificate. It's the one thing my parents don't want to risk me loosing yet. It won't fit in my wallet anyway, so I guess the best place for it right now is with them.</p>
<p>i have mine, i've kept it with me for as long as i can remember just in case i need it for something. i've needed it for job related things.</p>
<p>My daughter's college also says they need to see the original for the work study job. In any case, I expect my kids to have possession of their passports, SS cards, and driver's licenses and hopefully to take care not to lose them. A lost SS card can be replaced, at no charge.
<a href="http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=251%5B/url%5D">http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=251</a></p>
<p>It is also important to make photocopies of important documents -- but as a parent I think that I should be the one with the photocopies, while my kids have the originals. They just need to know that it is important to keep track of them.</p>
<p>I probably am the world's worst slob and extremely disorganized about almost everything, but I have had my own passport & SS card with my since I left home at age 16, and never had any problem keeping track of them. I just always kept them and other important papers (birth certificates, later my children's birth certificates, passports, etc.) in a specific documents folder stored the same place wherever I lived.</p>
<p>According to the I9 form that employers must complete the following can be used for employment verification</p>
<p>Any of these can be presented alone to establish both identity and employment eligibility:</p>
<p>US Passport (Expired or Unexpired), Certificate of US Citizenship, Certificate of Naturalization, Unexpired Foreign Passport, and a few other certificates issued primarily for foreigners authorized to work here. OR</p>
<p>ONE from this group to establish Identity:</p>
<p>Drivers license or State Id with photograph, ID card issued by federal, state or local government provided it has photo, School ID with photo, voter registration card, military card or draft record, dependent military card, Canadian drivers license.</p>
<p>AND one from this group to establish Employment Eligibility:</p>
<p>US Social Security Card, Certified copy of Birth Certificate, Certification of Birth Abroad issued by the Dept of State, US Citizen ID, ID for use of Resident Citizen in the US, Native American Tribal document.</p>
<p>So, according to government forms, an employer can accept just a passport for employement like work-study. They can also accept a birth certificate instead of a social security card, but both of these need another form of ID such as a drivers license.</p>
<p>One thing to remember: don't habitually carry your Social Security card (or a copy) in your wallet/purse. If you lose it, someone can easily commit identity fraud with that number and your driver's license number and address. Memorize your social security number and keep all originals and copies in a safe place at home.</p>