People who have jobs that do/did not pay into social security-retirement is affected adversely? Single? How can we live? (state, retirees)

[RichCapeCod]

I spent four years in the Air Force and twenty in the NYPD. SS taken out from both those jobs. Then I retired from the NYPD and went to work for a town on Cape Cod. No SS taken out. Fortuneately for me I have twenty eight years of "substantial earnings" as defined by SS, so the hit to my SS will be around $140 per month. However, due to their regulations, should I predecease my spouse she'll get nothing of my SS money (Government Pension Offset provision -- complicated but worth knowing about if it will impact you).

One thing you vets should know; for each quarter of a year you were in service the SS admin counts your earnings by an added $300 dollars a quarter. That may help you qualify for additional years of "substantial earnings" as it did me.

HTH,


Rich

[GloridaBG]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your post. Re your statement:

One thing you vets should know; for each quarter of a year you were in service the SS admin counts your earnings by an added $300 dollars a quarter. That may help you qualify for additional years of "substantial earnings" as it did me.

Do you specifically need to notify SS that you were in the service, or do they somehow already have this info? Also, are you saying that if your projected SS amount will be $1,500 a month and you were in the service for 2 years, SS will increase that amount by $2,400 monthly
($300 X 8 quarters)? Any info you can provide is appreciated.

Thanks,
Glorida

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by Wisteria

I noticed that Nancy was surprised to see that many other government agencies do NOT pay into Social Security -- that's one way I got in trouble -- I, too, used to work for New York State and it paid into both. However....and I am wondering if there is legal recourse -- NYS has said that the years I put in there do NOT count because...and this seems crazy to me (I'd have to try to dig up the letter they sent me) I did not tell them about my change of address when I moved out of state! One would think it would stay on the books regardless. So, according to them, I have lost everything I ever put into it! Somehow that does not seem right.

Leaving aside any personal political ideas, I would think that if you paid the SS tax for those NYS years, then they would count. Are they counted on your statement the SSA just sent out? If so, then I would bet that they count towards your SS benefits. The SSA should count any employment for which you and your employer paid the SS tax. What really counts is what the SSA says. It might be worth it to set up an appointment with SSA to find out exactly what counts and what does not.

For me, I spent a few years working for the state of CA and for the colleges I attended as a tutor and lab assistant. While the monetary amount was peanuts, none of that time counts. I didn't grasp that they didn't take SS tax from my wages and probably didn't care. But my time as a lab assistant for a doctor does count. I guess that the state and local govts either assumed that each employee would stay for a career and have the local govt pension system or they just didn't want to pay their part of the SS tax and opted out of it. It has created a lot of problems for people who moved in and out of govt service or changed the govts they worked for and so did not get the full career pension. One of the big reasons I stayed was for the pension benefits. I could have been paid a lot more but I might also have had less steady employment and lost the pensions I worked for somewhere else.

[xz2y]

Originally Posted by MN2CO

Where do you shop and do you buy organic? I live in Edina - shop at Cubs and pay 60-70c for cucumbers (which I thought was a lot) - never have had to pay what you have priced for any of the produce. I do agree that Mpls is not cheap - it never has been.

I don't want to get too far off topic, but to answer your question, I shop at Trader Joes in St Louis Park, Cub in Richfield, SuperTarget in Edina. No, I can't afford organic produce. Trader Joes cukes were $1.99 each for the seedless variety compared to the same cuke for $1.49 at Cub and at Target. All were too expensive. This is summer and one would expect more reasonably priced basic vegetables. Cub is very expensive for some reason, in spite of the store not being too clean. Green beans for $2.00/lb? At this time of year? They call $1.00/lb for green beans a "sale" and the beans are brown and partly rotted. I have found all produce quite pricey in Minneapolis, regardless of the time of year. My experience with a Farmer's Market near the University last fall was shockingly expensive and I bought nothing. Very disappointing. I'm moving back to Michigan this summer to regroup and continue researching where to retire permanently.

[Minervah]

Ouch! xz2y and MN2CO I never said it was cheap. Only cheaper that where I am at. Most places are. And I definitely would not move until the job market gets better. The point is, MPLs has more to offer retirees than Portland.

BTW, right now at Safeway the "specials" are $1.99 lb for tomatoes, $1.00 cucumbers and 99c for an ear of corn.

But this is not the most important thing for me. There are so many other factors that will go into my choice to move. I appreciate your input but the first and foremost thing for me is jobs, housing and other facilities for seniors (of which Oregon has very little for those without a lot of money and we are one of the few states that has no interim hospice care; example Searching, in Oregon, for a place to die ) and the general feeling that I just want to move on.

Of course any place I move, whether it be Mpls or somewhere else will have to have what I am looking for; COL being one of those things.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

If you didn't pay into SS, didn't you pay into a 403(b) or whatever it is...and I thought city, state workers got a very high percentage of their pay as retirement?

They do because they are not paying into SS. They want their cake and not have to pay for it too.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by lenora

Nicely put. I'm sure I'm not the only lurker who was thinking "I'd give my right arm for that pension!" If I understand correctly, the $1250 is NET taxes. Thus, one would need about $300,000 to purchase an immediate annuity that would provide a similar monthly amount with NO COLA built in. I'm looking at $900/mth in Social Security if I retire at age 62, $1350/mth at age 66.

This is not to say that the OP does not have a legitimate concern. She will probably need to move to a less expensive area and work for several more years. And although I think it's nice that she has state subsidized health insurance, $500/mth sounds like a ridiculously high amount considering it's supposed to be subsidized.

A lot of public employees confuse being eligible to retire with being able to retire. Many are eligible to retire at age 55 and or 30 years and think that means they should have enough money to be able to retire. NOT! You get a benefits statement each year and need to pay attention to it and determine if that will be enough. When you see it isn't you still need to save like anyone else or work longer and build it up.

[janetvj]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

They do because they are not paying into SS. They want their cake and not have to pay for it too.

You cannot make a blanket statement about pensions for goverment workers. Each individual state and local sub-division has it's own retirement and pension system, and benefits vary considerably for retirees of those employers. As a retiree from the state of MD, my pension is somewhere around 40% of the average of my highest 3 years of earnings over my 32 year career. And, since I paid into social security my entire working life (and that includes an additional 3 or 4 years prior to my state employment, as well as the 32 years there) I will also be eligible for that. But in order to have that pension, I made significantly less than I would have in a comparable job in many of the surrounding states, local governments, and the federal government. In effect, my earnings were deferred and paid into the pension plan. As a retiree, I am now eligible to withdraw those earnings. When I'm 62, I will start withdrawing S.S.

I'm sure there are other states where the pension is much more generous. And I suspect there are others where it is less so.

[Steve Bagu]

The OP is referring to those who pay and those who did not pay into the SS system in regards to their employment status.

The side tidbits of info are NOT that important but did open my eyes a little on how high prices are in some locals. Glad to see how lucky I am being in southern Calif where many fruits and vegs are grown or imported from south america at reasonable prices.

Am retired just south of the border in Baja but still buy most of my needs in Calif.

Getting to the SS situation. I was self employed for over 35 yrs and did pay into SS so do receive a check every month which is sufficient for one persons needs.

Steve

[janetvj]

Sorry - I quoted the wrong statement. I was responding to the post from loveautumn who said that she/he thought city and state employees got a high percentage of their pay as retirement. My point being that the plans all differ and some pay a higher benefit than others, just as some pay into S.S. and some do not.