Social
Security Column
Women’s History
and Social Security
By Phil Walton
Social Security Manager in Toledo, OH
Guest Column
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, born on September 6, 1874, was the first
American to receive a monthly Social Security benefit check.
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 first famous women of Social
Security. She received the check, amounting to $22.54, on
January 31, 1940. Back then, people understood that she
would be one of millions that would be positively affected
by retirement benefits.
Seventy-six years after 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
“The best place to begin is by knowing what you can expect
to receive from Social Security, and how much more you are
likely to need to enjoy a comfortable retirement,” said
Carolyn W. Colvin, Social Security’s Acting Commissioner and
a Social Security pioneer woman in her own right. 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.socialsecurity.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 is called Social Security: What Every Woman
Should Know. You can find it online at
www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10127.html.
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