Should I Laminate My Social Security Card?

First question: Why would you want to?

The answer is probably going to have something to do with keeping it from getting tattered or torn or ripped, etc.

Second question: What are you doing carrying your social security card around anyway?

Take that thing out of your wallet, out of your purse, memorize the number if you haven’t already, and PUT IT AWAY someplace safe like a deposit box or even on the top shelf in the back of your closet.

With identity theft crime on the rise, carrying your social security card around in your wallet is just not very smart. If a thief today stole your wallet or you lost it, the most you’d be out is whatever cash you had, and maybe a few fraudulent charges on your credit cards. If your social security card is in there, however, you have given a thief the opportunity and all of the information they need to become you, open new accounts in your name and charge their way to bliss, all while leaving you with the bill to pay, (or the years of heartache and clean-up with the credit agencies).

Having Said All That…

The reason why the Social Security Administration doesn’t want us laminating our cards is because there are security features built into them that the laminating may make it hard (or impossible) to detect. There is no guarantee with a laminated social security card and some employers may (legally) choose not to accept them since they cannot verify the card’s authenticity.

So leave your social security card alone, do not carry it with you and keep it somewhere safe where you will remember it on those rare occasions when you actually need to present it, like for getting a job, or maybe showing it to your income tax preparer.