Haven't established your online Social Security account? Do it now.
With DOGE at the SSA, it's a good time to download your data.
I’ve been advising readers for years to set up a free account on the Social Security Administration (SSA) website. Your account provides 24/7 access to a statement that projects your future benefits, and claiming it helps guard against identity theft—scammers can pose as you and claim your benefits.
The SSA stopped mailing out benefit statements about a decade ago, except for individuals age 60 or older who haven’t set up an online account. For most people, the only way to access the statement is online.
Now, I have another reason to recommend an online SSA account. Elon Musk’s DOGE staff is probing into SSA data, and it’s a good bet they don’t fully understand it. The agency’s programs are complex, and it is still running an outdated programming language—COBOL—that could be vulnerable in the wrong hands.
Is your data at risk? I’d like to think it is not, but this seems like a good time to play it safe.
Once you establish your account, download your statement and print it out for safekeeping. The statement includes not only your projected benefit but also your entire career earnings history. This is a critical set of numbers, as it is used to determine your benefit level. If possible, review the earnings history for accuracy; you can contact the SSA to request corrections for any errors.
Downloading this information seems like a prudent step at this moment. If you encounter any problems, you’ll have a paper record containing accurate information about your benefits. Use this link to set up your account.
If you already have an online account, log in and download your most recent statement.
DOGE is closing some Social Security offices
DOGE is terminating leases for 10 Social Security offices around the country. According to its website, these public-facing facilities are targeted for “consolidation” with other offices.
In urban areas, the public can usually reach an alternate site without too much difficulty. However, in rural areas, the nearest open office can be many miles away.
We don’t yet know what consolidation will mean for SSA employees at the closed offices.
Social Security has emphasized online services for most of the last decade (as noted above). However, field offices and the teleservices operation are critical for people without internet access and for those dealing with complicated questions or problems.
DOGE claims budget savings of $2.7 million from these closings, without noting that Social Security administrative expenses are paid from the program’s trust funds, not the general federal government budget. Anyway, that amount of savings is a drop in the bucket compared to the SSA’s overall administrative budget, which is currently around $14 billion.
As I noted a few weeks ago, people who need to do business with the Social Security Administration have been grappling with declining service for years—resulting from budget cuts imposed by Congress at a time when an aging population’s demand for services is growing. The pandemic also impacted the SSA, making it much tougher for some people to apply for benefits.
Between 2010 and 2024, the SSA’s customer service budget fell by 19% after adjusting for inflation, and its staffing decreased by 11%. At the same time, the number of Social Security beneficiaries grew by over 13 million, or 25%. People trying to interact with the SSA have reported wait times of an hour or more on the toll-free number. The backlog of pending disability insurance applications is shocking—more than one million claims are pending. This is not just an inconvenience; for some, it is a matter of life and death.
The questions surrounding office closures are not new. Back in 2018, I wrote about the hardships experienced by low-income residents of a rural part of northern Florida when their local SSA office shut down, requiring them to take hour-long bus rides to the nearest facility.
More closures could be coming, along with cuts to the teleservice operation. However, all of that is still very much in the rumor stage at this point.