Who was the first person to receive a social security check and retirement benefits in the United States?
The first person to receive a social security check was Ida May Fuller
Ida May Fuller (September 6, 1874 – January 27, 1975) was the first American to receive a monthly benefit Social Security check. She received the check, amounting to $22.54, on January 31, 1940.
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| Ida Fuller and her check. |
Fuller was born on a farm outside Ludlow, Vermont. She spent most of her life in Ludlow, working as a legal secretary, but lived with her niece in Brattleboro, Vermont during her last eight years. She retired in 1939, having paid just three years of payroll taxes. She received monthly Social Security checks until her death in 1975 at age 100. By the time of her death, Fuller had collected $22,888.92 from Social Security monthly benefits, compared to her contributions of $24.75 to the system. She later said about going to the Social Security office, "It wasn't that I expected anything, mind you, but I knew I'd been paying for something called Social Security and I wanted to ask the people in Rutland about it."
The average person today will collect five times the taxes they paid Social Security plus interest.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_May_Fuller
http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/US_History/Historical_notes.html#socialsecurity
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