Olympia Social Security office serves well

I just wanted to comment on the personal finance article that appeared Oct. 2. Both when I went in to apply for Medicare, then five years later for Social Security, at our local Social Security office on the west side, the staff who assisted me were great. They listened to my questions, explained everything in easy to understand language and explained all options.

In my own case (three months before my 70th birthday) the agent spent about half an hour helping me work out the financial options of taking a starting lump sum, or waiting until my exact birthday to start. In my personal case, taking the lump sum would only begin to impact me 15 years in the future. Once the paperwork was completed, my lump sum, then monthly checks began arriving in my bank account within one month.

We are very fortunate here in Thurston County to have such a great government office with well-trained, very helpful, patient employees.

Two words of advice, make an appointment (it can take awhile to get one) well in advance and bring your checkbook with you, so they can accurately enter your banking information for direct deposit.

This story was originally published October 24, 2016 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Olympia Social Security office serves well."