No, printing your Social Security record won’t protect you — but doing this will

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No, printing your Social Security record won’t protect you — but doing this will

The government has access to the back door of your financial accounts, so protecting your Social Security account won’t do much. – Getty Images/iStockphoto

I have a work record that goes back to 1989, when my mom helped me file my first tax return and listed my occupation at age 17 as “waitress.” The money I made that summer after I graduated high school — also when I learned all of the high-level executive-function skills that turned me into a reporter eventually — is still listed on my Social Security statement, the original of which is probably sitting in a box in my closet.

It’s a lovely souvenir of all the grease stains, burned fingertips and mild ******* harassment I suffered, but it means literally nothing for my future ability to collect Social Security when I am of age. In my ensuing 141 quarters of work, I have made far more, and Social Security only counts the highest earnings when it calculates my benefit when I claim it. I’m still nine years away from my minimum age to apply, and 17 years away from the maximum age of 70. I haven’t earned all that would count toward the algorithm that controls how much of a monthly check I get. (At least, I hope my earnings continue to increase.)

This is why

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for people who are concerned about the sanctity of their government-held information to print their Social Security record as proof of their earnings history. Yes, it’s a good idea to

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— that’s why the government used to mail them to every taxpayer every five years. If you see a mistake, you certainly should call the number listed, especially if it’s a high-earning year that will count toward your benefit. It’s also good to be aware of your projected Social Security monthly check amount so you can do long-term financial planning.

But otherwise, there’s nothing that a hard copy is going to do for you. None of the information on there is sensitive. It’s all a duplication of your tax records, which you probably are more likely to have a paper copy of in your files — I found my 1989 tax return in my mom’s files after she died. The information never changes for prior years. The only new thing each year is your most current tax-filing information.

I have a stack of the forms that the government sent me in my files, and the electronic ones I just keep on my hard drive. I downloaded my 2024 statement when I started to see all the advice about printing a hard copy, and looked back at the 2023 and 2022 ones I had saved, and they were all identical, except for one additional line.

Story Continues

Why do I have so many statements saved? Isn’t what’s good for the goose, good for the gander? I do this for a living — I download them to be able to eventually make points like this. I play the long game.

If you are already collecting Social Security benefits, your earnings history no longer matters. What you need to be worried about is what happens if the current chaos in the government will delay or impede a check being deposited in your account, either just once or on an ongoing basis. Even missing just one check could be a disaster for most households in this country, especially the

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as their only income.

If this happens, you’ll need to contact Social Security — check to make sure the office closest to you hasn’t been eliminated by cuts, and attempt to make an appointment first — and wait in a longer-than-usual line. Going in person to Social Security has never been fun, but it will likely be less so if checks don’t land. What you’ll need then is the bank statement or check stub showing the last payment you received. You should also take your

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from your prior year’s tax return (or your current one) to prove what you get.

If you don’t have a copy of this, you need it to file your current taxes. One should have come in the mail for 2024. If not, you can download it from your Social Security account, which is a good reason to make sure you have a log-in and know how to use it.

The other scary thing the government can do concerning Social Security is go into your bank account and

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. This tends to happen most after an individual has died and they receive a scheduled payment before the system catches up.

Social Security only pays out a month of benefits if you live the whole month – it doesn’t prorate up to the date of death. So if a person dies on Feb. 28, and they got a check on March 3 that they didn’t earn, the government can reach back into the account and take back the money.

Freezing your credit, printing out statements, calling to complain — none of this will help. The government has ********* access to financial accounts. Just ask New York City, which had

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until the federal government took it back, and now the city is suing.

You have to go full-on into conspiracy theories to think of other possible outcomes of rogue actors having unfettered ********* access to every individual’s financial life in this country. The same with what congressional action may take place in terms of cutting benefits or changing eligibility ages or taxation. In the face of this, worrying about your Social Security number getting on the dark web is small potatoes — it’s no doubt already there. This is something completely different.

There is one thing that could be useful: File your taxes. It’s long been advised that filing your taxes as early as possible thwarts identity thieves. It also encourages you to get your financial documents in order and assess your goals. Everything you need for your taxes serves as proof of what you earned or held in assets.

Your W-2 and 1099 wage statements confirm your job and income, and the amount of taxes you paid into Social Security and Medicare for future calculations.

Your brokerage and interest statements will confirm your holdings in a comprehensive way, should anything go awry with computer systems down the road. Instead of trying to keep up with your daily balance by printing statements every day, take these year-end statements as a proxy.

Your mortgage-interest statements and property-tax bills will ascertain your stake in the property you own.

If you want to take it a step further, take all of that information and go see an estate attorney to solidify a plan in case you are incapacitated or you die. If you won’t want the state involved in your affairs because you don’t trust it, then you need to speak for yourself.

A previous version of this column misstated the way the Social Security benefit is calculated. It has been corrected.

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