The Long Way Home 7.19.24
To those who say that Social Security payments are an entitlement and not an earned benefit, you should see how much I have paid to the Social Security trust fund since my first payroll job in 1970. In my more productive years, my financial advisers, all of whom sold some type of retirement investment, told me that Social Security was just one leg of the three-legged stool that would give me a financially comfortable retirement—it made sense. The trouble is that I'd whittled the other two legs down to toothpicks by the time I was old enough to collect social security. I was afraid to leave the stool lest it tip over on its one solid leg. Financially comfortable was a faded dream. Living well and living on Social Security are mutually exclusive. To supplement the pension that is my SS income, I’ve cobbled together what the young folks today are calling “side hustles.” Management coach, business consultant, POS (Point of Sale, not the other meaning) retail, and some people are even