April 13, 2018
Dear Everyone:
I got my
t-a-x-e-s done this week.
(“Jeannie” doesn’t like to see/hear the word “taxes”.)
It wasn’t as easy as it should have been, which was partly my fault.
You see, I decided to begin receiving
Social Security Benefits
once I passed my 66th birthday last year.
I know, I know. Everyone and
their pet squirrel advises:
Wait until you’re older.
Remember when The Parents used that line on us?
“May I (Fill-In-Blank)?”
“Wait until you’re older.”
It didn’t really matter what Fill-In-Blank was.
May I begin dating?
May I start wearing a bra?
May I spend the weekend at…?
Whatever the subject was, The Parents always avoided answering the
question by saying, “Wait until you’re older.”
Now it’s the government pulling the same trick.
Not because it doesn’t want to answer embarrassing questions, but
because it wants to limit how much money you get.
The whole thing is a
bait-and-switch.
The government tells you, “If you wait a little longer, you’ll get more
money.” Not entirely true.
What they really mean is, if you wait until you’re older, you’ll
get more per month. But what
the government is gambling on is that there will be fewer months until
you die and stop receiving any more benefits.
Now the way I look at is: I
paid into the System for 40 years.
I’d like to get something out of it before I
croak.
Let’s face it: I have one
foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
I’m already in the Checkout Lane.
Truth be told: I’ve
been living on Borrowed Time for nearly 60 years now.
Sooner or later, quite possibly sooner, the bill is going to come
due.
So I’d like to get as much out of that System I paid into for 40 years
while I can. It will help
stretch the funds I have in my
401(k), thus leaving more for my heirs.
So, as soon as I turned 66, I applied for my Social Security Benefits.
Online, of course.
They were a little bit cagey.
They “suggested” not to use any of the “usual” login IDs that I
already have. Make sure it’s
“unique”. So I did.
And I made the password “unique” as well.
Most importantly, I recorded both in my list of IDs and
passwords, which is now nearly 110 entries long.
And shortly thereafter, a monthly benefit, minus my
Medicare premium,
began arriving in my checking account.
And, most months, I promptly transferred it into one of my
savings accounts. I didn’t
actually need it for monthly expenses; but it’s nice to have in savings.
So when it was time to do my t-a-x-e-s, I needed the
SSA-1099 form that
showed how much money I had actually received in 2017.
So I went to the Social Security Administration website and tried
to login to get the information.
And that’s where I hit a snag.
The system refused to accept my login ID and password.
I double and triple checked the information in my list.
And after the third try, the system automatically locked up my ID
for the next 24 hours.
Frustrating.
Eventually, I claimed to have “forgotten” my password and the system
blithely informed me that a temporary password would be mailed to me in
7-10 business days. And it
did, indeed, take 7 days for the form letter to arrive in my mailbox.
Which is when I discovered that it had taken 7 days to travel
from the nearest SSA office, in
Walnut Creek, a distance of 15 miles.
Figure just over 2 miles per day.
Is that why they call it “Snail Mail”?
Only then did I remember that there actually IS a Social Security office
in Walnut Creek. Why didn’t
I just get in the car and drive there?
Because I forgot it was there.
Sometimes, doing things online actually takes longer.
Once I had the temporary password, I was finally able to log into my
account and, ultimately, locate the necessary form.
I also changed my password, which is when I discovered that all
passwords are automatically deactivated, without warning, after 180
days.
So I’ve added my SSA account to the list of IDs to change passwords at
the beginning of every month.
That only takes about three quarters of an hour; one more
password won’t take that much longer.
I hope.
In the meantime, I did (finally!) get my t-a-x-e-s finished.
And filed electronically.
And transferred money from savings to checking to cover what I
owed. Which was what I
wanted to do with the Social Security Benefits to begin with.
Also, if I decide to have a
Walk-In Tub installed in one of the
bathrooms, the money is there in my savings account.
Ditto replacing the windows.
Ditto replacing my 14-year-old car.
Come to think of it, I probably need a new
Kindle, too.
Love, as always,
Pete
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