Social Security Login Changes
/If you have a Social Security login, you have likely received a notice they are going away, and you will need to access your Social Security records through a Login.gov or ID.me account. Both options give you access to information from participating government agencies, like the Social Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security (applying for a passport), and Department of Veterans Affairs. However, there are some differences between the two new options, so I thought I would cover those in this article.
Login.gov is run by the U.S. government while ID.me is a third-party company. Both indicate they are committed to privacy and security. While Login.gov is strictly a means to log into participating government websites, ID.me also provides retail and prescription discounts to account holders and the ability to earn cash back on purchases made when logged into your account.
To create either account, you will need your driver’s license or state ID, Social Security number, phone number, email address and submit a photo of yourself (a selfie). Both also require you to set up at least one multifactor authentication method to secure your account.
At participating agencies’ websites, you will be given the choice to use one of the two options for logging into your account. You can also log into your to ID.me account first, then log into participating sites, but I have found that option a bit clumsy because agencies will have multiple site options to choose from depending on whether you are logging in for a business or individual and what type of service you are needing. My preference is to simply go to the website directly, then log in using ID.me.
In my opinion, the biggest advantage to using ID.me is it gives you access to your IRS account, whereas login.gov does not…at least at this time.
In the past, one had to lift their credit freezes to create a Social Security login. However, neither Login.gov or ID.me have that requirement.
If you haven’t already created your new login, I encourage you to do that now.
- Juli Erhart-Graves, CFP®, Worley Erhart-Graves Financial Advisors
