Is it time to start receiving your Social Security benefits? Once a person reaches 62, they are eligible to start receiving their Social Security benefits. However, you are only eligible if you paid into Social Security. There are some people, like teachers, who may not have paid into Social Security and therefore, will not receive a benefit from Social Security.

Let’s talk about benefits

The word benefit is kind of confusing to some people. To me, a benefit is something extra that you are given by your employer, sometimes it’s free and sometimes the employer pays a portion. In actuality, you and your employer pay matching amounts into Social Security every paycheck. This is not a random amount, it is an amount set by the Federal government. If anyone tells you that your Social Security is something that the government controls and can take away from you, it’s not really true. You put money in there, not by choice, but by the requirement of the Federal government. It is yours to keep until you die and all eligible dependents die.

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