I Do Not Want To Know Your SSN

The company that holds my tiny retirement fund (from when I worked at WSBA) is asking for the social security numbers of my beneficiaries.No way! I do not want to ask anyone else's SSN. I do not want to KNOW anyone else's SSN. I don't want to be part of any sort of security breach if and when it happens.
I am contemplating not designating fund beneficiaries, and just letting it all pass through my will (which I have recently updated to include Care Of My Cats - who are not e...ligible for SSN anyway haha!) That's less efficient but a lot more secure.

Just thinking. How do you solve this problem?

Comments

Melissa Shea Why would they need a SS # when listed as a beneficiary after you die a death certificate and ID should be enough I would think.









Mari Wilson We have a trust and a will. I don't recall if they asked for the ss# of our beneficiaries. Some are relatives we don't have a lot of contact with, so I know we didn't ask them. We also have a fund for our cats.



Justin Gelsinger They need the social so the IRS has the data when it pays out. Not sure how you'd get around it though.
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  Randall E. Winn I see your point, but it seems to me that they need the SSN when making the payout and not before. Upon death, the beneficiaries would identify themselves and give their SSNs.
  I suppose since the SSN is supposed to be a unique identifier it could also be used to reduce a fraudulent claim. Also having the information up front means less work for the payor.
  So far - they can ask all they want but I'm not going to get the information. What I don't know, I cannot accidently disclose.

  
  
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  Tina Karam Ennis Randall E. Winn how do the beneficiaries know who to contact? And addresses change over a lifetime. I figure they can use it to find benes who don't identify themselves.

  
  
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  Randall E. Winn Tina Karam Ennis I understand your point: the payor has to figure out where to send the money and it's most efficient if it has a unique identifier like the SSN to research current addresses on.
  But I'm not sure that the payor would do that before someone contacts them anyway; do they monitor my situation so they can take action if I am reported to have a date of death? Or do they just wait until someone goes through my papers and adds them to the list of institutions to contact?

  
  
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  Tina Karam Ennis Randall E. Winn not sure. I just know I did my will and changed my benes on numerous policies and I asked for and supplied all of their ssns...

  
  
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  Tina Karam Ennis I will have everything documented and in a fire proof box for them when I am gone...
• Cathleen Barszewski Falconer Randall E. Winn it helps in locating your beneficiaries when you die. Finding lost participants and/or their beneficiaries is the biggest nightmare we face. Having the SSN also helps us find the right beneficiary. I can’t emphasize enough how much time and money is spent on this.

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  Randall E. Winn Cathleen Barszewski Falconer It's always helpful to hear from someone with experience. Thanks.
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  Mark Carson You could roll the retirement fund into an IRA and designate beneficiaries there. IRAs differ in what they require for identifying the beneficiaries. Vanguard has something on this on their site somewhere.

  
  
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    Mark Carson You could also have it go through a trust, though those tend to be expensive (a few thousand dollars) to set up.

    
    
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    Randall E. Winn Mark Carson I definitely don't need the trust although for some ppl it makes sense. Just cut a check for the bennies, please!

    
    
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    Mari Tatlow Steed Mark Carson Vanguard requires SSNs. I inherited an IRA from my late mother, and then had to designate my beneficiaries on it (my kids). Had to provide both their SSNs.




Gretchen Swanson IIRC It’s because if the beneficiary is younger than 59 1/2 when they receive money from a designated retirement fund it has to be rolled into another designated fund in their name before they can take it out (causing a taxable event for them) it’s not like a bank account where they just get the money


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  Randall E. Winn Even so, why would they need the SSN beforehand? They could ask upon notifying the beneficiary of the potential pay-out. They would need to ask for the identity of the receiving fund anyway.

  
  
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  Gretchen Swanson Randall E. Winn agreed. Especially because the beneficiary is the one who will notify them of your untimely and much mourned demise

  
  
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  Richard Clem I would say just tell them that you don't know their number (or even if they have one).

  
  
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    Danielle Renee Senik I think that's the best solution.

    
    
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    Randall E. Winn That's the path I'm taking for now. It's the truth.
    
    Sometimes the truth is helpful ;-)
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  Anné Burke-Trifts It is normal for retirement accounts to ask for ss#.
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    Danielle Renee Senik Anné Burke-Trifts I've never had to provide that.

    
    
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    Anné Burke-Trifts I worked for WSBA and UW Law in both cases I had to name 2 beneficiaries with their Ss info.

    
    
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    Randall E. Winn Anné Burke-Trifts yes, they can ask. I'm just concerned that at this point in time, with so many instances of data breaches, it might be just as well to leave everything to my estate and have the estate worried about all that

    
    
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    Anné Burke-Trifts Randall E. Winn that is a very valid concern. I made my selections 20yrs ago when I left, different day and age. I would opt for it going to the estate. Not much is safe with private information being at high risk.

    
    




Linda Willis To your Estate



Heidi Bugni I named my father as a beneficiary on my pension and we gave them xxx-xx-1111 for example. Just the last four digits. I don’t know how secure that really is but it’s what he insisted. He’s a retired police officer and very keen on security so I deferred to him. Let us all know if you find a definitive answer to this because I need to update my beneficiaries since I’ve lost a couple recently.


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  Randall E. Winn Hiya - I don't have a definitive answer, I am sorry. I would suggest you update your beneficiaries so at least your intent is plain. The worst that could happen, it seems to me, is that the payor would insist on an SSN before making the payment, but that would be at a time where they have an actual need for it.
  I like the idea of providing the Last Four since that could be matched, when the time comes, with the Full SSN to ensure the identity of the payee.