Latest news with #EBE
Zawya
24-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt's Digital Issuing Revolution – Apple Tokenisation Drives Interest
Payment Industry Trends in Egypt The payments landscape in Egypt is undergoing significant transformation, influenced by both technological advancements and changing consumer behaviour. Digital adoption is on the government's agenda, especially when it comes to SMEs (small medium enterprises) which have seen a fast-growing fintech scene. On the agenda are efforts to target the underbanked and drive mobile digital first propositions, which accelerated after the pandemic. Alongside this has been a notable increase in card issuance owing to the growing acceptance of digital payments. Banks are launching within the market digital payment products such as contactless cards and mobile wallets. Even more recently, in late 2024, saw Apple Wallet enter the market and with the three largest bank issuers launched tokenisation. This has been hugely popular, and take-up has been high. So much so that the remainder of the banks are lining up to also tokenise. On the acquiring front, there has been a spate of M&A activity to consolidate and drive efficiency, so the focus continues to be price driven around rates and merchant retention efforts from value-added services. But new payment methods like QR codes and InstaPay have taken off. Despite this market push, Egypt's 34 banks have been issuing cards for decades and there is around 25,000 ATMs. Most of the issued cards are debit or prepaid in nature. The high inflation caused by crises like Ukraine has led to low usage of credit cards. As a foreigner visiting, it is surprisingly a country where you feel you need cash. I haven't been to an ATM to withdraw cash for I can't remember how long, and whilst I sought to resist going to see if I could survive digitally as I have easily done in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania etc, the challenge to find a restaurant that would take a card almost beat me. Egypt is surprisingly still very heavily cash driven. Change is taking place though. According to Mastercard's New Payment Index 2022, 67% of Egyptians increased their use of digital payment methods during the COVID-19 pandemic. On my visit to market, I got to spend time with leading payments company EBE (Egyptian Bureau for Engineering) which has played a key role in over 40 years to help with card production and personalisation, accounting for circa 95% of the cards in circulation, they have also deployed many of the POS terminals and ATMs in market. Talking with their team, younger consumers now prefer mobile wallets and contactless payments as safer and more convenient alternatives. Initiatives like the national domestic payment scheme, Meeza, support this shift offering prepaid cards to enable users to engage in cashless transactions while still providing access to cash withdrawals when needed. Digital payment platforms are emerging as key players in this transition, allowing consumers to settle bills and make purchases online. Some of the more popular are: Fawry: I believe the largest and most popular digital payment platforms provide a wide range of services, including bill payments, mobile top-ups and online shopping. Customers access Fawry through its app or physical kiosks, making it versatile, and its extensive network ensures broad acceptance among merchants and service providers. MyFawry extends into an online platform to make both online and offline payments and is now widely accepted across different sectors, including utilities and government services. Easycash: allows users to conduct transactions and money transfers via a mobile app. It supports payments through QR codes or by entering a merchant's phone number, facilitating everything from bill payments to online shopping. With a user-friendly interface and loyalty programmes that reward frequent users, its popularity is growing fast. Halan: is a digital wallet primarily used for transport and food delivery services, but it also supports various online purchases. Users make payments by scanning QR codes or entering merchant details, making it a convenient cashless transaction option. InstaPay: enables instant real-time payment transactions through a mobile app linked to users' bank accounts or credit cards. Enabling secure payments for bills and online purchases, it enhances convenience by providing detailed transaction histories and expense tracking. Sympl: facilitates payments for utilities, online shopping and person-to-person transfers through its mobile payment platform. Users manage their finances through the app, which allows payments via QR codes or linked accounts. ALAHLI E-Wallet: provided by the National Bank of Egypt, allows smartphone users to perform transactions supporting payments at various merchants and facilitating P2P fund transfers between wallet users. Masary and Aman: are both notable digital payment platforms catering to a wide range of consumer needs with user-friendly interfaces designed to enable cashless transactions for utilities, government services and retail purchases. The newest of these and probably the one with the fastest future growth potential is InstaPay, which also has a strong secure payment environment, using 128-bit encryption to protect data transmitted through its platform. The platform incorporates 3D Secure technology, which adds an additional layer of security during online transactions so that cardholders verify their identity through a one-time PIN or password and two-factor authentication (2FA), which adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Will Egypt trail in the digitalisation wake of other African countries? Possibly. Egypt has certainly had a huge boost being one of the first batch of African countries to regulate for a major X-Pay Wallet deployment, and with Apple Pay the deployment has gone exceedingly well. But other African governments and Central Banks are pushing regulation that incentivises the digitalisation of cash, for example Libya, others are pushing a more aggressive digital issuance drive like Ethiopia, some have already implemented innovative National QR code schemes like Kenya and Tanzania and some, like Tanzania, are even offering tax incentives to encourage higher end NFC-enabled devices like smartphones and wearables to come into the market which, with a virtual card issuing push and tokenisation of this, will help countries leapfrog the resistance to cash. From my recent visit and attempts to find ways to pay by card, Egypt possibly needs an additional stimulus to encourage certainly older people and SMEs to embrace digital payments. However, Egypt is a huge market and therefore the opportunity is also large. Once a tipping point is reached with digital payment adoption, usage will accelerate rapidly. What is definitely at play is a wide range of options. This ubiquity will mean that banks need to orchestrate several different methods of payment for its customers. With most banks having bought their core card management systems or payment switches over a decade ago there is a local need by the banks to protect these core (legacy) technologies. Whilst several options may exist, the most cost / time economic solution also maximising flexibility, agility and the reduction of operational risk when deploying new products is payment fabric. Payment Fabric enables digital first mobile friendly payment experiences without replacing existing systems Payment fabric provides a modern microservice approach to deploy new features without replacing existing investments. This is where Stanchion's Payment Fabric provides a critical advantage. Our modular and adaptive technology bridges the gap between legacy banking infrastructure and next-generation digital payment experiences. By enabling seamless integration across banking platforms, card networks and digital wallets, we empower financial institutions to innovate at speed, optimise costs and deliver the frictionless digital experiences that modern consumers expect. To remain competitive, banks must invest in robust digital infrastructure, forge strategic partnerships and prioritise customer-centric solutions that match the convenience of digital payments. With a global footprint and deep Middle East and Africa market expertise, Stanchion is uniquely positioned to support this transition — helping banks build scalable, future-ready payment ecosystems that align with Egypt's changing and dynamic economy. Stanchion is ready to collaborate and shape the future of payments with Egyptian Banks and Fintechs.
CBS News
04-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Elon Musk, DOGE use access to Social Security data to elevate claims against migrants
Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency say they're using their access to the Social Security Administration data not only to investigate claims of waste and fraud, but also to examine claims that immigrants are abusing the system — even though undocumented immigrants contribute more to Social Security than they take. During his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last Sunday, Musk and Antonio Gracias, a longtime friend and DOGE employee at the Social Security Administration, displayed a chart that purported to show over 5 million non-citizens who were issued Social Security numbers between 2021 and 2025. Musk called it a "massive financial incentive" for people to come to the U.S. illegally and claimed it was a large-scale Democratic "program" intended "to import as many illegals as possible." Gracias claimed the number of immigrants with Social Security numbers was "totally uncontrolled" and blamed former President Joe Biden's immigration laws for this. The U.S. may grant parole to certain migrants for humanitarian or other reasons, allowing them to live and work in the U.S. on a temporary basis, usually for a year or two, but it's not a path to citizenship. The status allows some to obtain Social Security numbers, which makes it legal for them to find work, but they do not receive Social Security benefits. DOGE's chart represented immigrants with legal work authorizations who were given Social Security numbers through the Enumeration Beyond Entry program, known as EBE. Those here illegally, without any lawful immigration status, are not eligible for a Social Security number. But then Gracias conflated the two groups and talked broadly about violent acts by undocumented immigrants as he stood in front of a chart showing data about immigrants with legal work permits. The EBE program, created during President Trump's first term, automatically processes Social Security cards for immigrants with temporary or permanent legal status, including those with green cards or work authorization from the Department of Homeland Security. "A hundred percent of the people in the EBE program, all their paperwork and status has been validated by DHS. That's where SSA gets all that information from," said Kathleen Romig, a Director of Social Security and Disability Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Experts say the program, a partnership between SSA and DHS, was designed to improve efficiency and availability for the SSA's frontline staff. In mid-March, the EBE program was paused, according to an internal email shared with CBS News. No specific reason was given. CBS News has reached out to SSA to ask about the data in the DOGE chart, as well as why the program was paused. Asked Tuesday about DOGE's claims, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she wasn't familiar with the numbers but pointed to an inspector general's report that found $72 billion worth of improper payments in the program from 2015 to 2022. Most were overpayments and made up less than 1% of the total benefits paid during that period. "There are individuals who should not be receiving benefits on the Social Security rolls, and this administration is focused on cleaning out the waste, fraud and abuse in every agency, but particularly in Social Security," Leavitt said. Gracias said DOGE received "a lot" of help from employees at SSA and immigration agencies in accessing data on immigrants, from alleged benefits they receive to their voting records. DOGE's access to personal, sensitive data within agencies has been a fraught, highly litigated issue . Data sharing between agencies is subject to numerous privacy laws, though Mr. Trump issued an executive order on March 20 directing federal agency heads to grant "full and prompt access of unclassified" data to federal officials in order "to identify and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse." The Department of Justice said DOGE has been provided read-only access to the agency's data, according to a court filing . In a court battle looking to limit DOGE's access, DOGE has argued that anonymizing the data would make it "impractical for those employees to conduct their work." The administration contends DOGE employees at the agency had completed all required agreements and training to access this data. Gracias claimed Wednesday that DOGE has found immigrants who have Social Security numbers on state voter rolls. Non-citizens are barred from voting in federal and state elections, and if caught, the penalty is deportation . He said they referred these cases to immigration agencies and said "they've committed to prosecute." But he provided no evidence of this and did not say how many cases have been referred or how many would be prosecuted. "That allowed us to connect all this data, to find these people across the system, across the benefit system, all the way to the voting records," Gracias said of Mr. Trump's executive order. Some agency employees have raised alarms over the rush to provide DOGE employees with access to this data. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said a former senior SSA official had written to him to report that DOGE employees and the nominee to lead the SSA, Frank Bisignano, worked to speed access to this data for DOGE employee Akash Bobba, a 22-year-old engineer at the agency. Tiffany Flick, a former SSA employee, wrote in an affidavit that Mike Russo, a DOGE senior adviser at SSA, did not give a "sufficiently detailed" reason why Bobba and DOGE employees needed access. Justice Department lawyers said in a later filing that DOGE employees were working on projects cleaning up the death records at SSA or finding ways to identify fraud in new claims and wage reporting. The Internal Revenue Service has also been working on an agreement with immigration agencies to share individual taxpayer data about undocumented migrants, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. DHS staff has been requesting access to data on individual taxpayer identification numbers, known as ITINs, which are given to non-citizens. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, one of the key architects of Trump's immigration policy, supports allowing DOGE to utilize the data to help immigration officials. In February, Miller said if Internal Revenue Service investigators find "illegal aliens stealing taxpayer money, of course they'll be referred to ICE. Of course they'll be referred to Homeland Security investigations." Doris Meissner, a former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service under former President Bill Clinton, said while agency data systems "do talk to each other" through systems like "E-Verify" for employees, the IRS has "always been completely hands off." "IRS information has never been made available to enforcement agencies. That is entirely new, and anybody working in this field for a long time would never imagine that could happen," Meissner said, noting that there have been "strong privacy protections" in law that are "carefully controlled." Gracias also claimed the "defaults" in the Social Security system are set to "max inclusion, max pay for these people." But experts say there is no "maximum" benefit setting for non-citizen workers. SSA guidance says those who entered the U.S. after Aug. 22, 1996, are not eligible for Supplemental Security Income such as disability payments from taxes they've paid within their first five to seven years in the U.S. There are cases where immigrants will make up a Social Security number on their employment forms, but this does not benefit the immigrants. It's hardly ever corrected by the employer, and their paid taxes are labeled as "unattributed funds" and added to the Social Security trust fund. Undocumented immigrants without work authorization play a sizable role in funding the Social Security system. Analysts estimate undocumented immigrants account for an additional $20 billion annually in payments into Social Security that they will never withdraw. Romig said Musk "got it backwards" by saying "immigrants are somehow a drain on Social Security's finances." "The more immigrants that we have coming into the United States, the stronger Social Security finances are because they contribute more to the trust funds than they take out," she said.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How many migrants are receiving Social Security numbers?
(NewsNation) — Tech billionaire Elon Musk is claiming that Social Security numbers were handed out last year to more than 2 million immigrants who entered the United States illegally and that those cards were subsequently used to collect benefits the migrants are not entitled to receive. Musk, speaking at a weekend town hall meeting in Wisconsin, displayed data from a Social Security program called Enumeration Beyond Entry, which indicated that nearly 2.1 million migrants were given Social Security numbers in fiscal year 2024 alone. That figure was a sharp increase from the 590,000 noncitizens who received Social Security numbers in fiscal year 2022 and the 964,000 who received them in 2023, EBE data showed. The Trump administration estimates that 11 million immigrants who crossed the border illegally are currently living in the U.S. Pew Research reported last year that about 8.3 million workers who held jobs in the nation in 2022 were migrants. How to get the most out of your Social Security benefits Musk and venture capitalist Antonio Gracias, who has been assisting the Department of Government Efficiency in examining the Social Security Administration, claim that the free-wheeling nature of how Social Security numbers are reportedly being given to migrants is an example of fraudulent activity within the SSA. 'This literally blew us away,' Gracias said at the town hall. 'We went there to find fraud, and we found this by accident.' The Social Security Administration reports that, in general, only noncitizens who are authorized by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to work in the United States are eligible to receive Social Security numbers. Once authorized to legally work in the U.S., migrants are eligible to apply for a Social Security card. However, the agency stipulates that for non-U.S. citizens to receive Supplemental Security Income, they must have been granted a certain classification by the Department of Homeland Security. Those classifications include being legally admitted into the country as a permanent resident, granted conditional entry or asylum, paroled into the United States or admitted as a refugee. However, Gracias alleged Sunday that migrants were given Social Security numbers automatically through the mail without being interviewed or being required to show identification after applying for and receiving a work permit. Social Security Administration probes origin of website portal outage The EBE program that distributes Social Security numbers to migrants with work authorizations began in 2017 during President Donald Trump's first White House term. The initiative was established as a partnership between the SSA and DHS to assist the SSA in efficiently issuing Social Security numbers to migrants who were deemed eligible. The SSA's inspector general wrote in 2019 that the program allowed Homeland Security to vet the legal status of migrants who were eligible to work and then automatically issue them with Social Security numbers. As part of the process, migrants seeking Social Security numbers were required to provide proof of their legal status. A SSA spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email from NewsNation seeking comment about the claims or the EBE data Thursday. Musk said Sunday the issuance of the Social Security numbers was part of a 'massive large-scale program' by the Biden administration to 'import as many illegals as possible, ultimately to change the entire voting map of the United States and disenfranchise the American people and make it a permanent deep blue one-party system from which there would be no escape.' Gracias added that migrants who received Social Security numbers were receiving 'max benefits' and that the noncitizens who were issued the Social Security numbers were using them to register to vote. The claims came after Musk previously alleged that Social Security benefits had been paid to tens of millions of people who had died. However, despite the growth in recent years of migrants who were provided with Social Security numbers, a 2023 government audit cited by The Washington Post stated that the SSA correctly processed cases for noncitizens to be issued Social Security numbers 99.8% of the time. Appeals court blocks DOGE effort to access Social Security data Experts, such as former SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley, told Rolling Stone that the increase in Social Security numbers being issued to migrants was 'inevitable' due to former President Joe Biden's policies regarding lawfully admitted immigrants at the U.S. southern border. A 2024 analysis conducted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed that migrants paid $96.7 billion into federal, state and local taxes in 2022. The migrant employees who have been issued work permits also paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes and $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes during the same year, although, in most cases, they are not eligible to receive benefits from federal agencies. As Trump has vowed to stop the flow of migrants entering the country illegally, ITEP found that providing access to work authorizations to all migrants would increase their tax contributions from $40.2 billion per year to $136.9 billion. More than $33 billion of the difference would go to the federal government, the study found, Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Musk's claim Biden administration gave Social Security numbers to millions of noncitizens lacks context
During an event in Wisconsin on March 30, 2025, tech mogul and government adviser Elon Musk said that the Biden administration had been attempting "to import as many illegals as possible" under the Enumeration Beyond Entry program. EBE is a joint program between U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration. Under the program, USCIS shares information with the SSA to generate Social Security numbers — enumerate — successful applicants for work permits, green cards and citizenship through naturalization. The program started in 2017, during President Donald Trump's first administration. Though SSNs issued under EBE did rise significantly during the Biden administration, the administration also extended the program to include large groups of applicants. The Department of Government Efficiency's SSA operative Antonio Gracias alleged on March 30 that people who were granted Social Security numbers under the EBE program were receiving "max" benefits and voting. It was unclear what evidence, if any, Gracias had for these claims. During a political rally in Wisconsin on March 30, tech mogul Elon Musk — an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump — was joined by billionaire investor and Department of Government Efficiency operative Antonio Gracias to reveal, the pair claimed (archived), a "massive, large-scale program" that issued millions of Social Security numbers to "as many illegals as possible" under the Biden administration. Standing in front of large chart showing the number of SSNs issued under the Enumeration Beyond Entry program in fiscal years 2018 to 2025, Musk told the crowd: People sometimes think that under the Biden administration, that he was simply asleep at the switch. They weren't asleep at the switch — it was a massive, large-scale program to import as many illegals as possible, ultimately to change the entire voting map of the United States and disenfranchise the American people and make it a permanent deep-blue, one-party state from which there would be no escape. Following the event, claims spread across social media including X (archived), Facebook (archived), Threads (archived) and Reddit (archived) that millions of noncitizens or "illegals" got SSNs during the Biden administration. However, Enumeration Beyond Entry, a joint Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services program from which Musk and Gracias took their numbers, issues SSNs only to migrants who have successfully applied for employment authorization, lawful permanent residency or naturalization — also known as the right to work, a green card or citizenship. These groups are, by definition, not "illegal." Most working adults in the U.S. need a Social Security number to link their financial information, such as earnings, to their identity and qualify for Social Security benefits. Musk and Gracias further claimed that people given SSNs under the EBE program were receiving benefits and voting. While a Social Security number does allow the holder to qualify for the SSA's benefits system, it was unclear how having an SSN allowed noncitizens to vote. We reached out to the SSA, USCIS and Office of Homeland Security Statistics to confirm the number of Social Security numbers issued under EBE and shown in Musk and Gracias' chart. We'll update this piece if we receive a response. We also reached out to DOGE for more details on Gracias' claim that people granted SSNs under the program were able to vote and await a reply. According to a 2019 audit report of Enumeration Beyond Entry, the program started in 2017 during the first Trump administration. The EBE streamlined the existing system by allowing the Social Security Administration to use data from specific applications (initially employment authorization and permanent-resident status) received by USCIS to enumerate, or give an SSN to, successful applicants. Before the EBE program, applicants would have to visit an SSA field office or Social Security Card Center in addition to submitting the relevant forms to apply for employment authorization. The SSA's Program Operations Manual System read (guidelines updated in February 2025): EBE is an option for those who applied for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD, Form I-766) and submitted Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) applied for Permanent Resident Status (Green Card, Form I-551) and submitted Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status); or, applied for a Certificate of Naturalization (form N-550) and submitted Form N-400 (Application for Naturalization). The program issued 82,202 SSNs from Oct. 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, according to the audit report. According to an expanded chart posted (archived) to X by Gracias, this number rose to 350,399 in fiscal year 2019 (October 2018 to September 2019) and 400,621 in FY2020. Musk and Gracias highlighted fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024), during Biden's presidency to say that the administration was trying to "import as many illegals as possible." The SSA issued 2,095,247 Social Security numbers through EBE in that fiscal year. However, speaking to Rolling Stone, former SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley, who served for much of fiscal year 2024, said the increase in SSNs issued under Biden could be explained by actions taken by the administration to expand the EBE program to more legal immigrants. In April 2024, USCIS announced the EBE program would be expanded to include Form N-400, a form used by groups including lawful permanent residents (commonly known as green Card holders) to apply for naturalization (citizenship). Effectively, the 2024 expansion of EBE to include Form N-400 meant that most adults applying for U.S. citizenship could get their SSN through the program. The Office of Homeland Security Statistics had not yet released naturalization figures for fiscal year 2024 at the time of this writing, so it was not possible to directly compare the rise in SSNs issued under EBE to the number of naturalizations in the same period to evidence O'Malley's claim. Gracias made a series of additional claims about people who got Social Security numbers through EBE. Firstly, he said DOGE found that some of the people who got their SSNs through the program were receiving "max" benefits. Generally, people with SSNs are eligible for Social Security benefits after they earn enough credits, which are based on salary. Gracias said: The defaults in the system, from all of the benefits programs, have been set to max inclusion, max pay for these people. That's what happening. We found 1.3 million of them already on Medicaid. We did not find up-to-date, publicly available data to support this claim. Gracias also claimed that DOGE had found names of several people who were issued a Social Security number under EBE and went on to vote. It was unclear how this was possible, as noncitizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote without becoming U.S. citizens, except in some local elections. A possible explanation could be that applicants who used Form N-400 to apply for naturalization and an SSN at the same time would be citizens upon successful application and thus able to vote. We reached out to Gracias through DOGE's X account and his company, Valor Equity Partners, for further comment. Benefits Planner | Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility | SSA. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025. Ennis, Gail S. Multiple Social Security Numbers Assigned to Non-Citizens Using the Enumeration Beyond Entry Program . Office of the Inspector General Social Security Administration, 17 Dec. 2019, Glawe, Justin. "Musk Blames Dems for Trump Giving Immigrants Social Security Numbers." Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2025, Kelly, Makena. "These Are the 10 DOGE Operatives Inside the Social Security Administration." Wired. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025. New Citizens Will Be Able to Seamlessly Request Social Security Updates | USCIS. 28 Mar. 2024, Social Security History: Martin O'Malley. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025. SSA - POMS: RM 10205.700 - Enumeration-Beyond-Entry (EBE) - 02/10/2025. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025. "The Story of the Social Security Number." Social Security Administration Research, Statistics, and Policy Analysis, Accessed 1 Apr. 2025. Who Can and Cannot Vote | USAGov. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Social Security will stop mailing cards to 3 million people, report says. It could cause chaos at field offices.
The Social Security Administration has frozen a program that automatically processes Social Security cards and sends them through the mail for certain people, such as newly naturalized U.S. citizens and noncitizens granted work authorization, a newsletter reported on Thursday. The change, which could affect millions of workers, will force those people to visit field offices that are already overcrowded and understaffed. This program — which operates under an agreement between the Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and is known as Enumeration Beyond Entry — has been 'temporarily' frozen for 'noncitizens granted work authorization' and 'newly naturalized U.S. citizens,' according to the Popular Information newsletter, and it is unknown how long the freeze will be in place or if it will ever be lifted. Individuals granted permanent residence status are also covered under the EBE program but were exempted from the freeze, the newsletter reported. 'In their last days, our parents changed their will': They left me $250,000, but gave my sister $1 million. What should I do? 'I'll retire when I'm dead': My 401(k) lost $50,000 in the market turmoil. I'm in my early 40s. What should I do now? My stepmother inherited 100% of my father's estate. She's leaving everything to her two kids. Is that fair? 'They hate our generation': My son and daughter-in-law want us to sell our house — and move to Oregon to start a commune My wife and I have $75,000. Should we put it into the S&P 500 or individual stocks? We found stocks with a 20% return. In 2024, USCIS approved initial employment authorization documents for more than 3.24 million people. Without the EBE program, those people will be required to visit a Social Security field office to obtain a Social Security number and card. 'Should the freeze remain in place for more than a few days, 60,000 to 75,000 additional people per week will need to visit a field station to obtain a Social Security number,' the newsletter reported. In an emailed statement in response to questions about whether the program was being halted and why, the SSA said: 'We are monitoring it closely. And we will provide an update as appropriate.' Read: Who can help me with my Social Security problem now that staff and services are being cut? The changes to the program come as the SSA is cutting 7,000 jobs, or 12% of its workforce, which was already at 50-year low in staffing. It is also eliminating six regional offices and closing field offices, while at the same time, in what it describes as an effort to combat identity fraud, requiring people to either verify their identity online or go in person to a field office, rather than using the agency's phone service to complete the process as they were previously able to do. Read: Social Security Administration to cut phone service for direct-deposit transactions The SSA, whose most sensitive data is now being reviewed by the Elon Musk-led entity known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, already has an average wait time of one month for an in-person appointment, and currently, some people must travel as far as 100 miles to reach their nearest field office, the newsletter said. The EBE program 'improves accuracy and efficiency,' said Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the nonpartisan Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, in an emailed comment. 'Because it's automatic, the more than three million people who participate each year do not have to visit a Social Security office to get their cards. That frees up SSA's frontline staff to answer calls, take appointments, and process claims from everyone else,' she said. 'Driving over three million more people into SSA's field offices will lead to longer wait times on the phone and in offices for everyone who seeks SSA services,' Romig said. 'Worsening service at SSA will harm retirees, grieving families, and people with disabilities who need benefits; job seekers, newly married women, and others who need replacement cards; victims of identity theft who need assistance; and beneficiaries who need to make updates or have problems.' Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, said the new EBE policy 'will burden millions, while helping exactly no one.' 'It will do nothing to reduce fraud, and indeed, will create duplication and waste,' she said. 'The main effect will be to overwhelm the Social Security field offices and create longer wait times for everyone. This makes no sense — unless the real goal is to break our Social Security system.' Investors face one last test this week: Friday's $4.7 trillion 'triple-witching' options expiration As stocks wobble, these two rarely noticed measures say valuations are stretched America's job market is eerily similar to the 1990s dot-com bubble — and, yes, it's a worry I'm 63 and planning to retire. I watched in horror as the markets tanked. Will I have enough to get me to my 90s? 9 quality bank stocks most likely to rise as much as 45% after recent market declines
