I recently had a birthday. One of those significant, ends in zero, birthdays. This was one I'd been anticipating since my last truly signficant birthday, when I turned 21 and could, legally, order a drink. And that was also the age when I could go to the polls and vote. A banner birthday.
Since then... nada. Anything that gets you ice cream and presents can't be all bad -- and I do believe in celebrating -- but there was nothing significant about any of those birthdays. Until now. This was the birthday when I'd maxed out my social security benefits.
It was always my plan to wait to apply for benefits. I've worked part time or full time since I was 16 and I'm still working full time. Why apply earlier? "You'll get less each month, but more in the long run," said well meaning friends. I listened politely, crunched the numbers, ran scenarios in my tax prep software, and stuck to my original plan. Wait.
The morning of my recent birthday I went online before going to work (On my 21st birthday who envisioned the personal computer? Western Union was still delivering telegrams by hand and, upon request, singing on birthdays. Computers were part of movies like Desk Set, a personal favorite.) and completed the benefit application in less than fifteen minutes. In two days I received notice my application had been processed and two days after that my first benefit payment was deposited electronically in my bank account.
That's a birthday present worth waiting for.
Penny Pincher
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