The nation's first Baby Boomer became the first of her generation to receive a Social Security retirement benefit on Tuesday, the Social Security Administration announced.

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling was born at one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, and received her first payment by direct deposit. Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964.

Over the next two decades, nearly 80 million Americans will become eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, more than 10,000 per day on average.  

The federal government has been urging Americans to sign up for direct deposit for their Social Security retirement benefit.

"Direct deposit is a win for everyone," said Judith R. Tillman, commissioner of the Treasury Deparmtent's Financial Management Service (FMS).  "For the last three years, Treasury has led a campaign called Go Direct to educate Americans about the many benefits of direct deposit.  We at Treasury congratulate Kathy on receiving her first Social Security payment and on her decision to Go Direct."

The federal government says direct deposit has several advantages:

• Eliminates the risk of lost or stolen checks,
• Reduces fraud,
• Helps protect against identity theft,
• Gives people more control over their money, and 
• Saves taxpayers millions of dollars.

FMS says that if every current federal benefit check recipient switched to direct deposit, it would save taxpayers about $130 million a year.