Next month, my bride will be a septuagenarian and she will begin drawing on her social security. She has waited until now to begin taking this retirement benefit, much to my consternation. I quit work at 62 but waited until my full retirement age to begin receiving social security checks. I thought Anne should do the same, but she did not. Instead of beginning at 66 and 2 months, she has waited until now. We are about to enjoy the fruits of her patience. Her benefit will now be roughly the same as mine. If she had begun drawing social security at her full retirement age, her benefit would have been little more than half of mine. She will enjoy the 8½% per year raise that has been further compounded by cost-of-living increases. With inflation those have been hefty as of late. Her patience is its own reward. This new revenue stream will flip the equation on how we support ourselves. Up until now, we have primarily relied upon our savings, but going forward, social security will become the biggest contributor. These financial sea changes will roil our taxes. This last year we got burnt by poor tax planning; I hope going forward to avoid any further such consequences.