A crushing realization: I'm on the dole.

I never applied for welfare.  That is, I never went to a government office and said I was out of work and needed money.  But I find myself on the dole nonetheless.

How?

The "Earned Income Tax Credit."  From the IRS website:

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) sometimes called the Earned Income Credit (EIC), is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. Congress originally approved the tax credit legislation in 1975 in part to offset the burden of social security taxes and to provide an incentive to work. When the EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.

In other words, I last year I had so little income that, notwithstanding substantial premature, taxable withdrawals from my IRA, my tax liability was still less than the EITC, and the government is giving me the difference. 

I was expecting to owe a lot in federal income taxes because not all of my premature contributions had tax withheld.  When my tax preparer told me last week (I had an extension) that I was going to get money, I asked how that was possible.  When he told me it was the EITC, I felt bad enough, but then he added: "That's highly unusual.  I only have one or two people a year that qualify for that."  Gee, thanks for making me feel worse!

Yeah, I know that a lot of people say that the EITC is not welfare because it goes to "working people."   In other words, they claim that because it's not simply doling out money to people without a job, then it's not welfare.

But it's the government giving me money because I'm in sorry financial shape.  It's hard for me to rationalize that away as just another "tax deduction."

As with most setbacks, I am going to try to turn this into a positive.  I've never had a motivator this strong, and you can bet that if I am ever as successful as I think I have the potential to be,  I will look back on this time as a driving force.