Fixed Income

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Social Security

Social Security has turned 90, and it’s changed quite a bit as it has aged.
Happy (Belated) Birthday to Social Security
Social Security was one of the programs included in President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal." Everett Collection/Shutterstock
Tom Margenau
|Updated:
0:00

Doesn’t it just bug you when you miss the birthday of a close friend? That happened to me when I recently missed the 90th birthday of someone who (well, actually something that) has been a big part of my life for the past half-century. I’m talking about the Social Security program that turned 90 on Aug. 14. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on Aug. 14, 1935.

I forgot to wish it a happy birthday in my last column, so I’m going to make up for it today by once again sharing a little history of our nation’s bedrock social insurance program.

Tom Margenau
Tom Margenau
Author
Tom Margenau worked for 32 years in a variety of positions for the Social Security Administration before retiring in 2005. He has served as the director of SSA’s public information office, the chief editor of more than 100 SSA publications, a deputy press officer and spokesman, and a speechwriter for the commissioner of Social Security. For 12 years, he also wrote Social Security columns for local newspapers, and recently published the book “Social Security: Simple and Smart.” If you have a Social Security question, contact him at [email protected]