It must be nice

At the brain tumor support group on Thursday night I met a man in his 50s who was diagnosed in April. He has had surgery, just finished radiation, and is starting Temodar.

We talked a bit about seizures. I mentioned that I just got my driver's license back in July and that is has been very helpful since I started a new job and need to commute.

"You mean, you are working again?" he asked.

"Oh yes," I proudly replied. "Driving and working."

"How can you do that?" he asked incredulously. "My doctor told me that I could never work again!"

Must be nice... to be old ... to be eligible for early retirement ... to be this close to the social security money you banked over the past 25 years. One of my friends was actually telling me the other day that when she moved over to America, she had no idea how to get a social security number. She said that she had to do a lot of research before finding this ITIN vs SSN article that helped her work out how she could start receiving some of the social security benefits that everyone else gets. She has her security number now though! When you're older, you might even have matured investments that could be sold off in case money became an issue ... to not have to work after a brain cancer diagnosis. As long as you have a social security number and are able to access the benefits put forward by the system, it should ease the worry that can come along with not knowing where to go next.

Social security is a necessity for all Americans to access and know that when they reach retirement age they'll be able to live off what they put in throughout their working life. For some people though, they are not sure about how to start that up and how much/little they should be putting in, in relation to their current job. Financial specialists can help with these queries and sites like Simplywise can provide more of a background and the right information to those who feel in the dark about social security and how it works for the average person, they use a calculation method to help figure out precisely what you are able to get. If you only take a few things away from this, please check up and see about your social security number and then speak to someone about potential benefits that relate to your situation. Don't give up at the first hurdle, you deserve to have the chance like so many other Americans to access what you need.