WEBVTT - Social Security Numbers: Less Boring Than You'd Think 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:07.560 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should Know 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:16.360 from house Stuff Works dot com? Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:20.480 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.520 A K A to eight six five four seven five 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.080 two three D. You can't get out you're so so 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.400 security number. I thought about that. I thought about what 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.360 if I like ended up when we were describing like 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:35.519 what the different numbers and were, I was like, well, 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:37.800 my why happened to be this one? If you listen 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:39.640 to the whole podcast, you can put together and so 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.120 security number. That's like, don't do that, Josh, don't. We 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.559 should probably beef out what I said anyway, because that 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.960 might be someone else's Social Security number. Yeah, I don't. 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.320 I don't want to be responsible for that. Okay, we'll 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.320 go back and beat that out. That's really some c 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:57.920 o A right there. Why how do you know that 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.800 that person had been like, yes, you know, its called 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.680 me out Serial number one. I want a contest. I 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.520 can pay for my own hotel in Atlanta to go 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:12.680 see the guys, but just me so um, Jerry like that? Uh, so, 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:19.840 chuck ah, do you know much about social security? A bit? 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:28.320 You're about to chuck um. The Social Security Act is 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:33.160 created by our old timey forbears. Um basically created a scheme, 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:36.000 and not scheme in the way of like a carbon 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:37.920 trating scheme or something like that. I know you don't 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:40.400 like that word, but it's a legitimate word. It doesn't 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:47.360 necessarily mean something nefarious. But under this scheme, social security 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:52.480 um is given to retiring workers in the in the 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.760 form of a monthly payment, where basically it says, hey, 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.880 good job, you did a good job working. Go take 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:00.840 care of yourself. We don't want you to die on 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:05.800 the street. This should hopefully sustain you in your retirement years. Right. 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.320 This is before the advent of four oh one case 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.520 and the like this, this thirty five bucks a month. Right. Well, 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.000 the whole, the whole basis of it is that the 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:21.840 workers of today pay into the Social Security fund and 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:27.360 it is immediately taken and distributed dispersed two workers who 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:32.200 have retired today. Yeah, so the workers of today are 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.280 taking care of the workers of yesterday. That's the whole 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.919 point to what This has led some people to claim 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.720 that the Social Security program is nothing more than a 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.480 Ponzi scheme where you're taking the money of these people 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.880 to pay off other people for socialism. Even Oh, it's total, 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.160 totally different. It is socialism. Yeah, but people cry socialism 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.040 a lot these days, and they don't think about things 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.360 like social security in all the different ways we do 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.560 have socialism that people are like, oh, that's fine, right, sure, yeah, 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.160 but well but you can make a case that it 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:11.240 is a Ponzi scheme. But Stephen Goss, chief actuary for 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:15.480 the Social Security Administration, would take issue with that. I'm 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.040 sure he would. He would say it's not a Ponzi 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:22.600 scheme because the Ponzi scheme is not sustainable. Some might 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:25.320 argue that social security is not sustainable, and that is, 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.480 as we say here in the South, that's a whole 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:31.280 another show. Okay, well I want to talk about it anymore. Well, 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:33.800 what do you have some numbers on its sustainability? Well, 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:36.200 we can chat about it. Here's the thing. So if 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.080 you if you just if you had zero population growth, 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:43.080 this thing would work forever, right, and it would work 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:47.560 completely efficiently with no changes whatsoever. Unfortunately, we don't have 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.000 zero population growth, and we actually had a spike in 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:53.240 population that we know of as the baby boom, right, 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:57.080 which means that very shortly and starting now, I think 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.520 um more, there will be way more retired workers than 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.600 there are workers, Which means that the workers of today 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.520 are going to have a far greater burden placed on 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:07.920 them taking care of these retired workers than any other 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:12.200 workers ever have our will. But Stephen goss chief Actuary 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.360 for the Social Security Administration, says this will eventually work 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.960 itself out. The government has taken steps to address this. 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.080 And what is done is raise the amount of money 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.960 that people throw into this, and they're taking the extra 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:31.000 money and the government is buying treasury bonds investing in itself. Now, 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:35.160 here's the weird thing. When they come mature these bonds, 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:40.000 the government pays these things off with other tax money. 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.400 So the government is going to pay the Social Security 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:47.960 Fund back with other tax money. Now, this will drive 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:55.600 people crazy, conservatives, libertarians, umbers right leaning liberals, right fiscally 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:59.400 conservative liberals especially, But Stephen Gossa shares it's just a 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.159 little bump. We're probably not gonna have another population spike 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:04.600 for a while, and so security will go right back 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:08.360 to normal. It just yes for us right now, Right, 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:10.800 the other thing that I never really thought about is 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.440 it could not have been a sustainable program even to 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:18.080 begin with, because you start Social Security and when when 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:22.080 was it people started getting paying It paid out, you know, 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:26.479 a year later, two years later, and so they weren't 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.880 paying in that long. So immediately you've got a problem 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.920 on your hands because people are starting to get payouts 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:35.080 that didn't pay in for twenty years. Yes, that is 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:39.040 the case, but the payoffs were smaller at first. Yeah, 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.560 but it still creates a bit of a wrinkle. I 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.040 think that would a wrinkle in time for the future. 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.719 I think so. But it was a hump that had 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.600 to be gotten over, and it was gotten over. Like basically, 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:53.520 the first people just got screwed. Yeah. Well, well but 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:55.640 they didn't pay in that much either though, So no, 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:59.479 and that's true, So they were rightly screwed. Okay, so 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.080 let's talk about the history of all this chuck. And 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.240 and by the way, I guess the takeaway from that 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:09.279 intro Social Security is considered a what upon CI scheme. 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:12.839 I think people are just sitting there like, I know, 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:17.560 all right, well you already you already blew the big 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:22.479 secret there the act of um it was coined. The 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:27.599 name social Security was coined by Abraham Epstein Um, who 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:33.760 led the American Association for Social Security. And they began 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:37.400 paying out in thirty seven, Like you said, yeah, just 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:42.479 just for workers. Right. It was the the the biggest 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.280 wage earner of a household, basically the dad um got 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.040 the money as the retiree. Yeah, and it was a 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.760 lump sum, right. They didn't pay it in monthly uh buckets. 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.760 Back then, tell him what the first guy who got 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:59.680 social Security got his slump sum? Yeah, his lumpsom was 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:04.680 uh was it seventeen cents in January nine, thirty seven. 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:07.200 He was the first guy that gets Social Security benefits 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.560 And I looked it up. That's two dollars and fifty 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:14.000 five cents in two thousand ten money. Oh well, so 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.640 even back then he was just like, hey, federal government 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:20.880 gets that in my pocket for you. Yeah. Um, Josh 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:24.080 just made an obscene gesture. We should just say that. Um. 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:27.240 In nine, just two years later, they added survivors benefits 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:33.480 and benefits two spouses and children. Uh flashboard of fifty six, 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:38.320 they had a disability of benefits. Sixty five, Medicare was 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:44.520 signed into law, and in sixty one the I'm sorry. 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:48.000 In sixty two, the Civil Service Commission in the I 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.760 r S adopted the Social Security number as your official 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.840 federal I D number and taxpayer I D number, respectively, 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:58.520 which is a kind of a thing because the first 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.600 Social Security cards cifically said on them not to be 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.080 used as identification. Yeah, but they never made a follow 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.320 up law to enforce it, and so everybody's like, no, 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:10.440 this is perfect for identification. Yeah, I always, I'll always 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.400 remember it because of this card in my wallet. We'll 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:17.040 use the mark of the beast is identification. Um, the 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:21.040 first numbers, because this is not just about Social Security 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.240 but more about the numbers, which is more interesting than 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:28.400 I thought. Slightly. Yeah, um, it was. They were distributed 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.920 to the post office because they didn't have field offices yet. 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:37.559 So ye, post offices took the initial task. Two. Uh 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.680 type up. These cards are called typing centers. Yeah. So 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.360 basically this is, um, this is what I This is 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:49.400 the part I entitled bureaucracy. How right. Yeah. The Social 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:54.360 Security Um Administration contacted all employers in the United States 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:58.040 and said, hey, uh, this is a form SS four 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.000 and on it you just list the number of employees 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:02.719 you have working for you. Mail it back to us. 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:06.600 And so all the employers filled out I have fifteen employees, 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:08.760 and then mailed the S S four back to the 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.320 Social Security Administration. So Security Administration opened up the S 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:16.920 S fours and they said, okay, this employer has fifteen employees, 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:21.079 so we're going to mail him fifteen S S five forms, 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.559 which are basically signing up for your Social Security number. Right. 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:29.000 So they mailed the fifteen back, probably in one package, 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.559 to the employer, and the employer distributed them among his employees. 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:35.520 Employees filled out the S S five forms and they 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:39.520 sent them back to the Such Security Administration. Such Security 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.880 Administration said, okay, now we have these and we're going 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:48.680 to assign social security numbers. Right the um they said, hey, 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.360 go to your post office. The post office gave them 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.880 the social security numbers. The post office then sent that 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.640 duplicate form to the Social Security Administration, who created the 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.640 master file of all of these documents put together, which 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.319 was your so Security number file, and that was sent 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.480 to Maryland. Yes, and then in Maryland is where it 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:12.720 all came together. That's right. Uh, well what came together there? 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.240 The numbers, the numbering, the whole thing, your whole file, 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.720 the block the block file. That's right. So let's talk 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.080 about the first numbers. Since we're there. Who has it? 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:26.240 And is it zero zero one zero one zero zero 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.160 zero one? Is it the first number? No? Well we 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.160 should first say that no one knows for sure who 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.960 got the very first card in the very first number, 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:40.200 because they they reckon about several hundred thousand people applied 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:45.000 in that first November of ninety six. So I didn't 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.040 do the math, but there's some I'm sure you could 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.640 figure out statistically, and I'd be interested to hear how 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:53.040 to do this. But um, if a hundred thousand people 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:56.920 all got their card that day and the post offices 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.800 were open from like eight to five, how many people 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:06.720 or handed their Social Security number card um simultaneously that day? 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.320 How many first people were there? There's got to be 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:13.199 some awesome math equation to figure that out. Somebody should 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.040 do that for us. Since the UM so they don't 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.760 know officially who it was, but their first official record, uh, 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.319 they do know. UM it was a guy named John 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:28.800 David Sweeney Jr. And he had the social Security number 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:33.800 oh five five O nine O one and by oh 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.360 I mean zero of course or aught and he got 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.720 his because the head of the Social Security Administration took 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:42.720 it off the top of the stack, yeah, and said 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:44.920 this is the first one. That's right, So there you go. 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.920 But they did offer that to um oh no, sorry, 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:52.880 zero zero one number, the lowest number right on record. 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.600 Right before we get to there, though, John David Sweeney 0:11:56.640 --> 0:12:01.160 ironically died before he could collect his uh social Security payments. 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.160 John David Tweeney is the one with the first security number. 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.520 So that is very ironic. That's the fact of the 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.520 podcast if you ask me. Yeah, because retirement age was 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.760 sixty five and he died at sixty one. Today they 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.720 handle it differently. It's a little confusing, but actually it's 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:18.680 not that confusing. You just have to be good at math. 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.000 Benefits are reduced by five nights of one per cent 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:24.839 for every month you retire before the age of sixty 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:31.559 five or rich person. Yeah, it's good for you. So um, 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:35.360 so back to the number one oh one or whatever. Yeah, 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:40.240 the all time low number holder, who always will be 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:42.760 until we start recycling numbers if we ever need to, 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:47.319 We we may, we may. Her name is um Grace 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.960 d Owen. She is of Concord, New Hampshire, or conquered 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:55.200 okay um and uh yeah, because we always get mail 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:59.120 from people it's like, oh, you pronounced it Nevada, it's Nevada. 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:01.679 Or if we say Vada, they say, hey, you pronounced 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:06.679 Nevada incorrectly. It's Nevada. No, it is Nevada. But I 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.000 tell everyone that writes in from Nevada, only people from 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.680 Nevada say Nevada. Everyone else says Nevada, especially people in Missouri. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.440 So um, Chuck Gracedo and of Conquord, New Hampshire got 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:23.440 the lowest number zero zero one zero one zero zero 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:28.080 zero one number. It was UM. And she got that 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:30.520 not because she was first in line, as we've said, 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:34.360 different guy got that low number. Uh, or a different 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.079 guy got the first number and it wasn't low. Um. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.920 She got it because of where she lived. Originally, the 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.559 number scheming was based on well, the first two numbers 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.000 were based on the state you lived in, um and 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:53.320 starting northeast, moving westward, and so you had less than 0:13:53.400 --> 0:14:00.560 fifty possible primary numbers, the first two first through renas. Yeah, 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:02.679 well not even they didn't even have fifty at the time, 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:04.760 did they know? That's what I'm saying. So this is 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.400 a total waste of digits. They figured out very quickly, 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:11.800 so they started assigning them to zip codes instead. And 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:13.920 we should talk about these numbers. Do you want here? 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.200 Are we there now? Well, we are almost there. But 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:18.600 um you didn't mention that Grace Owen got that number. 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:22.360 They actually offered it as an honor to um John 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:26.800 g Winnt these Social Security Board chairman, and John Campbell, 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:31.320 the Federal Bureau of Old Age Benefits rep for the 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:36.160 Boston They offered them both the number oh one oh 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:41.800 one oh one and they no, no thanks. We are 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.320 true bureaucrats and that would be against the bureaucracy's rules. 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:49.480 That's right. And seventeen cents to Ernest Ackerman, the first 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.920 guy to get a payment. Yes, but um iidem A 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:56.360 Fuller made out like a bandit. This is exactly the problem. 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.160 This is not the problem. Mrs Fuller did good things 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.880 with her money. She brought herself in edzel Um, she 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:11.400 uh invested in um uh web band. She did great things. 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:15.440 She did um so id to a. Fuller retired in 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.960 November nineteen thirty nine, and she was the first person 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:22.600 to start collecting monthly benefits. So by the time she 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:26.360 by the time social Security payments or by the time 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.400 you had to start paying and because another fact is 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:33.160 that you can't opt out UM and the time she retired, 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.560 she contributed a total of twenty four dollars and seventy 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:40.800 five cents because of the Social Security scheme. UM. By 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.960 the time she died at age one hundred, nineteen seventy five, 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:47.800 she collected a total of twenty two thousand, eight hundred 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:51.080 and eighty eight dollars and nine two cents. She made 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.480 out she wore like a bandanna around her face like 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.840 the rest of her life she did. Yeah, she was 0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:04.280 a Social Security bandit. Okay, back to the numbers. Enough history, 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:08.280 I think so. Um So, the first three numbers they're 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.040 called what the area numbers, and like you said, they 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.760 were originally from northeast to west. So like if you 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.120 were if you lived in New Hampshire, um, you your 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.000 first three numbers were gonna be zero, zero one. Then 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.640 they figured out that, well that's stupid, like we're gonna 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.760 have fifty states tops, so there's a whole number that 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.000 we're not using. Eventually we're gonna need it. Because social 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:35.400 Security numbers aren't recycled, they're retired after the person dies, right, 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.480 that is true. So then they started assigning them to 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.920 zip code, so that started using up a lot more numbers, right, yeah, 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:44.800 zip code on the mailing address on the application form, 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:49.000 which didn't necessarily indicate your residents. It's just wherever the 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.200 mailing address was where you applied, right, exactly when you 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.680 were living. Uh right, And it doesn't, Yeah, it doesn't. 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.520 Mailing in residents is not the same address most times 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.080 it is, but even still, like the place where I 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:04.800 was born, it's not where I live now, so right, 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:08.280 So I mean you have a lot of um weird 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:15.600 numbers for the beginning in the early seventies, since seventy 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.520 two is when they started the zip code. So I 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:22.159 believe that I actually am one of the last years 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:24.399 since I was born in seventy one, last people to 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:28.000 get uh the one based on the state. Cool, so 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:34.040 I'm old timing, seriously, that is something. Um. The next 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:37.440 two numbers are group numbers, so you have your area 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:40.560 number and then the area numbers broken into groups zero 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:45.160 one through Yeah, and this makes sense. So the two 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.560 numbers in the middle are the you are that group 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.919 of that zip code or that state, depending on how 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.120 old you are. It was just a means to break 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.800 it up and make it simpler for accounting and filing 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.719 and all that stuff. Right, because instead of UM just 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:05.760 one group from an area, or what nine ninety nine 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:10.640 possible areas, you now have nine groups of nine ninety 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:14.080 nine possible areas, nine nine groups each to allow us 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:16.919 for a lot more. Because the the eight ball that 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:20.800 the Social Security number UM is always behind is basically 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:23.080 running out of numbers. I don't think it will happen. 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:27.640 It will there well, eventually, but there's what they says, 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:31.000 a billion combinations. But consider this, there's been more than 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:37.360 four hundred million numbers issued since so what sixty five 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:42.000 seventy seven years? Right, I have a feeling that does 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.280 take into account the baby boom that ate up a 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.359 lot of numbers, But I mean I have a feeling 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.280 that we could we could reach that and what another 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:52.760 hundred hundred years, the US will be around I'm sure 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:57.480 longer than then, hopefully. Yeah, China is rising, well, it'll 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:01.040 be at the very least not in our lifetime. Oh no, 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:02.800 so who cares. I would have agreed with you had 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.199 you qualified it like that. Yeah, what they'll probably do 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:08.840 is UM and I'm guessing here, but they'll probably start 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:12.520 reassigning numbers from dead people, which will be weird. I 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.320 use so security number. Yeah, imagine they go back. I mean, 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:18.240 it would make sense to me that they would start 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:22.160 from the beginning again almost so like you're using someone's 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:27.520 number from and the year. Yeah, you got a stinky 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.959 old mothball number. It's like a wicker um wicker wheelchair 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:36.520 or something like that, like leather leg breaks is something weird, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:40.879 like from the thirties. What are you talking about? You 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.720 know exactly what I'm talking about. Okay, the last four 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:49.040 digits are the serial numbers, and uh they number consecutively 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:53.880 from triple O one through So that's just saying, well, 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:58.439 we're gonna extend the number the possible numbers we can 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:02.600 come up with exactly. You've the more billion, and you 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:04.600 know what, you don't even necessarily have to recycle even 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:07.160 if you add like an extra attempt digit. How much 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:12.359 would that change everything? I mean, they have to rewrite 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:15.920 all their programming and all their accountings, and then we 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:20.080 wouldn't have to recycle numbers. Good point they have. Luckily, 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.480 they have people much smarter than that's deciding how to 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:26.320 handle that. I don't know. We're pretty sharp, all right, Josh, 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:30.800 common questions, These are actually pretty good. Okay, Chuck, here's 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:33.199 a question for you. Does everyone have to have a 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:37.840 Social Security number? If you're over eighteen, then yes, you do. UM. 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:42.280 And you if you receive an income and you're over eighteen, UM. 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:47.400 If you're interested in starting up a bank account, being 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:52.040 a deduction on your parents, income taxes, all sorts of 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:56.560 things like that, metal getting medical coverage, taking advantage of 0:20:56.560 --> 0:20:59.000 government services, then you're gonna need that. So there's a 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:01.760 lot of people who just you that that you have 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:07.320 to have that. Practically speaking, you do, like any bank 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.000 can be like I'm not doing business with you, and 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:12.639 then you say, okay, well I can't force you to 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:16.120 by law, but I'll try your competitor, and you go 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.160 on down the line and maybe you find a bank. 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:20.400 From what I understand, there's banks that are set up 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:24.160 in the Midwest, um for people who don't have Social 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:27.360 Security numbers, Like who've said I'm not gonna have one, 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:28.960 I don't trust the government, don't want to have a 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:32.399 serial number, and I'm not going to have this no, 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:36.760 but they're still paying in Oh yeah, yeah, I think 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:38.840 they're still paying in but they don't have a Social 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.119 Security number, so that means they're not gonna get benefits 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:42.520 at the end. I don't think they think they're going 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:46.720 to get benefits anyway. I could get that, UM. But yeah, 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:48.400 they don't have a Social Security number. I think there 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.120 are there are people who don't pay Social Security as well. 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:53.560 It's like a whole Yeah, there's that's like a whole 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:56.640 topic along the fringe of whether or not you need 0:21:56.640 --> 0:21:58.359 to have one, whether or not you actually do have 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:00.920 to pay in the constitution, a reality of it, all 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.439 that stuff, but for all practical purposes, your life is 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:07.479 exponentially easier if you have a so Security number. Right, 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:09.000 And you also said you have to pay because you 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:11.720 can't tell the government, you know what, I'm setting up 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:14.600 for my own retirement and I want to take all 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:16.760 the available money that I make to do that because 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:20.680 my retirement plan is much better than whatever you yokels 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:22.879 are working on. Yeah, because I mean, if you you 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:25.880 have to pay in fifteen point three percent, I don't 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:28.560 know if that's current. I haven't looked, but as of 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:32.199 the writing of this UM, this article, it was fifteen 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:36.879 point three seven point six paid by you out of 0:22:36.880 --> 0:22:39.959 your gross pay and seven point six five paid by 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:44.439 your employer. It is staggering how much we pay in 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:47.320 taxes in this country. So if you took fifteen point 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:50.160 three percent of your gross pay and put it into 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:53.000 a four oh one k over the same course of years, 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:58.679 you would have so much more money. Yeah, barring another 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:01.119 stock market catask t fee before you could get your 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:04.080 money out of your formal one k um, you would 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:07.480 have way more than you have from the Social Security 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:10.520 Administration As as benefits. You know, what I'm meant to 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:13.800 look up is if the government uses this money for 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:18.120 other things in the meantime or is it strictly like here, 0:23:18.160 --> 0:23:19.879 it's in this little pool and all we're doing is 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:22.840 paying people out with it. Well, supposedly, before the baby 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:27.040 boom problem arose, it was going in and right back out, 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:30.879 and I'm sure any surplus was invested in treasury bonds. 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:35.919 Now um, all of the surplus is invested in treasury bonds, 0:23:36.200 --> 0:23:39.479 which is just such a shell game. It's so crazy, 0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:41.640 and no one has any idea if this is gonna work. 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:44.160 I swear to God, I'm not paranoid, but don't live 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:47.119 in the Midwest. I'm not a fringe dweller. This is 0:23:47.160 --> 0:23:50.120 not something I like keep up with a lot um. 0:23:50.200 --> 0:23:53.200 I don't read World net daily. There's nothing like that 0:23:53.280 --> 0:23:55.640 in my life. But I'm telling you this is like 0:23:55.920 --> 0:24:01.240 there there's no guarantee that this social secure a UM 0:24:01.280 --> 0:24:05.200 I guess bandage for the baby boom populations, like if 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:08.240