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Archiver > GenMassachusetts > 2001-06 > 0993662185


From: Seth and/or BJ Hinshaw <>
Subject: Re: [GM-L] PROTEST new Soc Sec fees
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 13:17:21 -0400
References: <200106271233.FAA86782@pine.frazmtn.com>


Mary Strovink Daukas wrote:

> When I saw the messages revealing the increase of $20 each for copies
> of soc sec application I became very concerned.
> See the following site for information:
>
> http://www.ssa.gov/foia/foia_guide.htm
>
> The increased fees table is under the heading:
> Fees And Payments

I will not be protesting the new fees. Why?

A. because the new fee does come closer to the actual cost (labour, storage, and so on....)
that all taxpayers had been underwriting
but also because
B. the purpose of the SSA is not to provide help to genealogists but to administer social
security (which may well be the fixed income mentioned in the post I'm replying to <vbg>)
and
C. the SS-5s are highly overrated as a genealogy tool.

In general (meaning 90% or more of the time), there are other ways to get information that
is
at least as good and usually more helpful.

Example: Researcher's grandmother was born in 1915. She died in 1961, when researcher's
mother
was a pre-teenager, so mother doesn't remember much other than a name, birthdate, parents
names, and the town
the grandmother was from. the SS-5, if it exists, won't provide any more than that.....
Also,
the grandmother may well have not had a social security number, if she had been a homemaker.
If
she did have a
number, it is probably not listed in the SSDI (so finding it is part of the cost...).

In this case, instead of writing to the SSA, I would recommend using the 1920 census to find

her living with her parents. In addition to providing the names of parents and siblings
(which
the SS-5 won't) and
maybe even her grandmother <vbg>, it will give you a feel for the neighbourhood.... were
there
lots of immigrants, what occupations did people have, how big were the households, and so
on..... For the 20th
century (which is all the SSA covers; if grandma was born in 1875 and died in 1935, it won't
be
any help at all in finding her.....), there are usually other ways to work backwards, which
are
less expensive
and provide more information.

One other thing to remember: early on, employers often filled out all or most of the SS-5,
so
what you get may be what the employer heard, not what was actually said.

I wouldn't go so far as to call the whole SSDI and getting the SS-5s a scam {as there are a
few
people, usually because of deaths or estrangements, who have benefited} but the value of it
has
been *highly*
overrated, especially by genealogy software/CD companies trying to get your money. I also
think
it has blunted research skills by being so convenient, even if it isn't the most helpful
tool.

BJ





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