public-service · SSA Red Book edition
How to Confirm You Have the Current SSA Red Book Edition
SSA's Red Book landing page states the current edition's publication number, date, and ICN in one line, letting readers match it against their own copy.
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What matters now
- The Red Book's landing page states the current edition's identity in one line: SSA Publication No. 64-030, (Red Book), June 2026, ICN 436900.
- That line gives three identifiers to match: publication number (64-030), revision date (June 2026), and ICN (436900).
- A different date or ICN than what the landing page currently shows means your copy is not the current edition by SSA's own posted identifier.
- This is a document-identification check only — it doesn't cover what changed between editions or whether a work incentive applies to your situation.
If you want to know whether the copy of Social Security’s Red Book you have on hand — printed, saved, or bookmarked — is the current edition, check the single identifying line SSA publishes on the Red Book’s official landing page and compare it against your own copy.
This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.
Key points
- The Red Book’s landing page states the current edition’s identity in one line: “SSA Publication No. 64-030, (Red Book), June 2026, ICN 436900” (https://www.ssa.gov/redbook/).
- That line gives you three identifiers to match: the publication number (64-030), the revision date (June 2026), and the ICN (436900).
- If your own copy or printout shows a different date or a different ICN than what the landing page currently displays, it is not the current edition by SSA’s own posted identifier.
- This is a document-identification check only. It does not tell you what changed between editions or whether any work incentive described in the guide applies to your situation.
Where SSA states the current edition
SSA’s official landing page for the guide identifies the currently published edition with a single line: “SSA Publication No. 64-030, (Red Book), June 2026, ICN 436900” (https://www.ssa.gov/redbook/). The full title of the publication is “A Guide to Work Incentives and Employment Supports,” commonly called the Red Book. The publication number, 64-030, stays the same across editions, so the date and the ICN are the two values that change when SSA issues a new edition.
Red Book comparison
Take whatever copy you’re relying on — a saved PDF, a printed page, a citation in another document — and look for the same three values SSA lists on the landing page: “SSA Publication No. 64-030, (Red Book), June 2026, ICN 436900” (https://www.ssa.gov/redbook/). If your copy shows “June 2026” and “ICN 436900,” it matches the edition SSA currently identifies as current on that page. If either the date or the ICN differs, your copy predates the edition SSA is currently pointing readers to.
What this article does not answer
This article covers document identification only. It does not explain what the ICN number itself means or how SSA assigns it. It does not compare the Red Book’s “64-030” numbering to the numbering SSA uses for its other publications. It does not state which sections or paragraphs changed between the current edition and the prior one — SSA maintains a separate “What’s New” page for that. It also does not quote or characterize the wording printed inside the PDF itself, such as its internal office line or “recycle prior editions” text, since that specific wording could not be independently reconfirmed against the complete document on this verification pass. And it does not describe or assess whether any particular work incentive discussed in the guide applies to any individual reader’s situation — that determination is separate from confirming which edition you’re looking at.