January 31st in 1940 was a wonderful day indeed, provided one was Ms. Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. Every month of the previous three years she had deposited 69 cents into that newfangled program – Social Security – before finally retiring in 1939. Having contributed a grand total of $24.75, she became the first American to withdraw a monthly payment, in the amount of $22.54. By the time she received her second check in February, she’d already taken twice as much as what she’d put into the system. Ida May went on to do us all a disservice and lived to be 100 years old, collecting $22,888.92.