Hall: Winning The Gray Lottery

A balding young pup of 65 years or so came up to me one recent Wednesday bubbling over with a happy event in his ripening life. “Guess what?” he said, hyping the great news, “I just received the first Social Security check of my life. I looked in my online account and, sure enough, my first check had appeared.” A grand day indeed. And it’s not just the money. “Security” is the key word in Social Security. It’s a job with no work required, a job from which you cannot be fired, except perhaps by a malfunctioning Congress. No wonder he was smiling. He had just won the senior lottery. But he was also smiling for me. “You’ve probably been receiving a Social Security check for a few years already,” he said diplomatically, pretending to believe I might not be old enough yet for a pension.”My first check arrived 10 years ago,” I confessed. “But let me tell you something,” I added. “It wasn’t the first time I started receiving a huge Social Security benefit. The first time happened more than 50 years ago.” He looked puzzled/ Bill Hall , Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: What is it like to receive a Social Security check (for those of us who don’t)?