Social Security

Social Security

Social Security has been around for a long time. Everybody has a Social Security number and every worker contributes some of their revenue to it each pay period. Many people do this not really knowing why and what's the reason from it. Today most people see it as a financial retirement plan that is accessible when a person reaches a certain age. It could be look at in that way but there more to it. The fact of the matter is that more people need to be knowledgeable about the reason for Social Security.

A lot of people view the Social Security plan as an American concept. The idea for Social Security was actually started in Europe, in the late 19th century. The first actual program was started in Germany in 1889. It was head by Germany's legendary chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The Social Security idea did not hit the United States until the 1930's. It was June 8, 1934, the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the idea to Congress about the Social Security plan. He came up with this idea for a answer to the Great Depression.

After getting this billed passed by both the House and Congress, Roosevelt developed the Social Security Board (SSB). He came up with this three member group to head and regulate the Social Security Act. The SSB had many responsibilities. They had to provide information about how earnings were going to be kept to the employees, employers, and the public. They also had to explain what benefits were available and how they were going to be provided. The SSB had to find a field site for their office and they had to find personnel to staff the office.

The first payments were started in 1937. Payments were to distributed in one lump-sum. The average amount around this time was $58.06. It was so low because it had not been around long enough for people to accumulate a large sum of money. Monthly payments begun in 1940. The first monthly payment was issued at on January 31, 1940. From that date to about 1950, the Social Security act had no changes.

In the 1950s, the act started making changes. It began to allow benefits not only to the worker, but also to the worker's family. If the worker was to experience a premature death, accounts were setup to