As of my sixty-second birthday in a bit more than a month, I will be receiving a state pension from the United States. According to all the forms I had received from the Social Security Administration over the years, this would amount to a bit less than eight-hundred dollars a month. Not bad, especially in Croatia. However, I just received the official notice of pension award, which will start in two months. To my dismay, the amount has just been reduced to a bit more than five-hundred dollars because I already receive several private pensions. This would only reward people who do not take care of their own future needs, but I decided not to appeal the decision. I still feel rather funny, though. For some reason, I am struck by the amount I am about to start receiving. For teaching in the States for ten years, from 1980 to 1990, I will get only five-hundred fucking dollars a month. This is better than nothing, of course, but it still feels sort of pathetic. Nay, humiliating.

Addendum (March 9, 2017)

As of a couple of years ago, I am paying federal tax on my state pension. It is no less than thirty percent, too. Apparently, I am filthy rich by American standards. At any rate, now I am receiving a bit more than four-hundred dollars a month. It is better than nothing, but it feels sort of pathetic nevertheless. I am not complaining, though. In a few short years, my state pension from the United States may well disappear altogether. Why should Americans be paying a dime to someone living all the way in Croatia, wherever this happens to be? Humiliating, to be sure! Sooner or later, the Donald is bound to discover this patent absurdity in the pension system and get rid of it by means of yet another executive order. Whoosh!