Social Security Milestone

After 41 years of working full time I retired four years ago. That doesn’t include the odd jobs I had starting in high school and through college. Thirty one years were spent in heath care and ten years were spent in the federal government. At the time I didn’t really realize what the benefits would mean to us by working at the Library of Congress in DC. Back then, the idea was to find a job in DC, be able to walk to work, and live near our family. In the end it had a huge impact on our health care insurance because I continue to carry the self plus one option at the federal government rate - especially nice since I retired at 62 and didn’t have Medicare yet. But today is another big milestone for me. I received my first social security check! I didn’t start collecting it right away because luckily and with planning, we could afford not to. I waited four years and applied for it in October. That way, I’m in the middle of the time period that I can start collecting at 66. Waiting any longer didn’t seem to make that much sense given our personal circumstances. We had a lot of discussion about what would be the best way to go and felt it was finally the right time. Last year I applied for Medicare and now I have my social security. What sounds weird is that I’m talking about myself and not all those “old people” out there. I have to say I worked long and hard for this “benefit” and deserve every penny. Hopefully I will be able to keep it coming for many years to come.