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Old 01-16-2015, 07:57 PM
 
2,420 posts, read 4,356,441 times
Reputation: 3528

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I think the OP said they liked their job, but still were not happy there. My guess is it is a cultural thing, and if I had to work with a majority of people who's life style and conversation was centered around everything I abhor, it might make me want to get out of Dodge quick too. I know what you mean about offending Texans if you have anything negative to say about their state. I guess that is where "Proud Texan" came from.

If you know you can take the financial hit, then go for it. Not knowing your political or religious persuasion or the area of Texas you reside, consider that northern Florida can be very conservative as well as West Florida, and so is most of South Carolina.
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Old 01-16-2015, 08:21 PM
 
240 posts, read 238,659 times
Reputation: 348
Quote:
Originally Posted by GM fitter View Post
I am 31 months away from 62 yrs. old. I have 25.7 years with my employer, with full pension being 30 years. I also need to say that I work a job with lots of available overtime.

I know not to compare my income in retirement, with my current income, mostly because of the overtime. Also, my current job is not what I usually do. It is much, much better. Not financially, but in terms of wear and tear. I am a skilled tradesman, currently working full time in an office environment.

OK, finally my issue. My wife and I live in Texas, we followed my job. I'll start out with the mandatory apology. Not to offend anyone, but we do not like living here. This is something I choose not to share with my co-workers, although they may sense it. People here are very sensitive about their state. If you visit my home town and tell me you would rather do jail time than ever go their again, no problem. To each his own. When I talk about investigating other places to retire, they have no concept of why I would want to leave.

That said, am I being foolish to take the early retirement, and take SSI at 62? I think I would be happy with less money in a place I feel comfortable in. We can't afford to go back to where we are from, but are looking at Fla., North and South Carolina, and Delaware.

Will the extra money in retirement, that I would get by waiting, be worth 5 more years here? By then Ill be 65. Then it becomes "why not wait one more year to get full social?"

I don't know if any of this makes sense, or if I have really asked a question. Guess I just wanted to vent. If you are reading this....thanks for your time.
Youve got enough money , what you don't have is TIME , reconsider, life is sooo much shorter than you think
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Old 01-16-2015, 09:37 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,854,783 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe View Post
Why should I thank you for collecting on insurance I paid for myself?

May you never become disabled and have to use the insurance you paid for.

And if you want to get into the logistics of what I supposedly cost you - out of your own pocket - let's say the market rent for my apartment is about $550. I pay $335. This leaves a difference that is subsidized of $215 per month. Divide that by how many people? Some of the subsidy is federal, state and county. But, let's use federal. How many people live in the US now? Let me google it...

Okay, Wikipedia says there are about 300 million people living in the U.S. So exactly how much out of pocket are you, personally, for my subsidized apartment, that I paid insurance for my entire working life?

Just sayin'. Feel rankled all you like. But, you're not personally affected by any measurable degree by the fact that I am in a subsidized apartment.

Sheesh, the arrogance of this line of thinking rankles me.
You are mixing two different things. The first two sentences of your post refer, as far as I can tell, to your Social Security disability benefits, which I never referred to in my post which you quoted. I was talking only about your subsidized housing. How is it that you paid for insurance for your subsidized apartment? I've never heard of such a thing. Are you claiming that the Social Security Administration is paying the subsidy?

If you really want to get into the math of the situation, your calculation rests on a false assumption. Of the 300 million people living in the United States, not all of them are taxpayers. A lot of them are minors (under age 18). Others belong to various categories of people who pay no taxes, such as those who are incarcerated and those who are unemployed. In addition, you are not the only person who lives in subsidized housing, and you will note in my post that I objected in principal to paying for the housing of others (note the plural). Many people who live in subsidized housing are not disabled, by the way. I am sorry you are disabled, which I did not know about.

So far, I have received three reputation comments for my post which you found so arrogant. So that makes a minimum of four of us who belong to that category.

Edited to add: Make that four reputation comments. Another one came in while I was typing the above.
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Old 01-16-2015, 11:15 PM
 
11,181 posts, read 10,488,483 times
Reputation: 18618
Quote:
Originally Posted by modhatter View Post
I know what you mean about offending Texans if you have anything negative to say about their state.
I can speak with some authority in saying that it usually doesn't offend so much as confuse them.
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Old 01-17-2015, 12:08 AM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,336,193 times
Reputation: 38572
Quote:
Originally Posted by Escort Rider View Post
You are mixing two different things. The first two sentences of your post refer, as far as I can tell, to your Social Security disability benefits, which I never referred to in my post which you quoted. I was talking only about your subsidized housing. How is it that you paid for insurance for your subsidized apartment? I've never heard of such a thing. Are you claiming that the Social Security Administration is paying the subsidy?

If you really want to get into the math of the situation, your calculation rests on a false assumption. Of the 300 million people living in the United States, not all of them are taxpayers. A lot of them are minors (under age 18). Others belong to various categories of people who pay no taxes, such as those who are incarcerated and those who are unemployed. In addition, you are not the only person who lives in subsidized housing, and you will note in my post that I objected in principal to paying for the housing of others (note the plural). Many people who live in subsidized housing are not disabled, by the way. I am sorry you are disabled, which I did not know about.

So far, I have received three reputation comments for my post which you found so arrogant. So that makes a minimum of four of us who belong to that category.

Edited to add: Make that four reputation comments. Another one came in while I was typing the above.
And Rush Limbaugh has a lot of fans.
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Old 01-17-2015, 02:29 AM
 
Location: moved
13,587 posts, read 9,618,420 times
Reputation: 23343
Quote:
Originally Posted by Escort Rider View Post
...I was talking only about your subsidized housing. How is it that you paid for insurance for your subsidized apartment?
Some of the benefits that we receive, especially in old-age, are at least abstractly related to payments and contributions that we've ourselves been making throughout our working-lives. Other benefits stem from disasters and misfortunes that may have afflicted us, through no faults of our own. These benefits society bestows upon us from a sense of decency and fairness, to at least partially ameliorate the exigencies of life.

But there is a third category of benefits, triggered if and when we consciously make poor decisions, where society comes to our succor from a "Prodigal Son" (I refer to the parable) feeling of responsibility. It is this category of benefits that causes people annoyance, because in our physical world our resources are finite, and if the father restored to prosperity his prodigal son, that necessarily diminishes his other son's patrimony.
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Old 01-17-2015, 05:51 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,854,783 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe View Post
And Rush Limbaugh has a lot of fans.
I am not one of them.
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Old 01-17-2015, 07:12 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,854,783 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant View Post
Some of the benefits that we receive, especially in old-age, are at least abstractly related to payments and contributions that we've ourselves been making throughout our working-lives. Other benefits stem from disasters and misfortunes that may have afflicted us, through no faults of our own. These benefits society bestows upon us from a sense of decency and fairness, to at least partially ameliorate the exigencies of life.

But there is a third category of benefits, triggered if and when we consciously make poor decisions, where society comes to our succor from a "Prodigal Son" (I refer to the parable) feeling of responsibility. It is this category of benefits that causes people annoyance, because in our physical world our resources are finite, and if the father restored to prosperity his prodigal son, that necessarily diminishes his other son's patrimony.
Your analysis is thoughtful, as usual. However, since the subject is subsidized housing, I beg to differ somewhat.

Approval for residence in subsidized housing is not predicated on "payments and contributions that [people] have been making throughout [their] working lives". A person who has never worked a day could qualify. I had a neer-do-well cousin, now deceased, who lived off the largesse of his parents and who would have qualified had he not had those parents to live off of. The qualification is being poor, regardless of the reasons which have led to that status.
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Old 01-17-2015, 09:34 AM
 
Location: Sandwich
376 posts, read 392,634 times
Reputation: 1194
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
If you can afford it then go for it.

You only live once so make the most of it.

I took an early retirement with a reduced pension.
I do not regret it one bit and would do it again in a heartbeat.

When it comes to living in Texas you either love it or hate it. There just doesn't seem to be a middle ground with most folks.

I couldn't agree more with this, but only you know what you can afford. I retired at 57 (with a slightly reduced pension) and do not regret it for a moment. Good luck in whatever path you take.

Lou
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Old 01-17-2015, 10:31 AM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,336,193 times
Reputation: 38572
Saying that the taxes I paid, both state and federal and county and city, (and the sales taxes and other taxes I continue to pay) over my entire working life, has in no way contributed to the subsidized housing I now live in, is like saying that the roads you're driving on were in no part paid for by the tax payers who have stopped paying taxes where those roads are.

But, we won't agree, c'est la vie.

BTW, nobody gets free housing. Even in subsidized housing, you must have income twice the rent. So, if the ne'er do well relative were to go look for free housing just because he's poor, there is no such thing. And if he gets county welfare, they'll put him to work to get it, and in CA that's about $200/month, and he'll be cleaning the highways on weekends and be required to pay it back. He can't get SSI unless he's disabled or a senior, on and on.

So, this idea that there are people who get free housing just because they're poor, who have no income is incorrect. Unless you want to call the mission or shelter "free housing." And even they will kick them out after 30 days, if they don't get a job.

Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 01-17-2015 at 10:43 AM..
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