Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother has a state pension from being a teacher for 35 years. No SS. My parents have a paid off house and investments, no rental property. My dad gets SS, but it’s not a lot as he took it as soon as he was eligible. No 401ks, but he has a SEP IRA. Mom gets $55k a year, dad draws about the same from his accounts and SS a year and they are more than fine.

Now your mom will get half of your dad's because of Social Security Fairness Act. Has she applied for SS?

She doesn’t qualify because the benefit is offset by her pension when we ran the numbers. My dad’s SS is tiny. He was a sole proprietor master plumber for decades, long before the cost of hiring a skilled tradesman skyrocketed.

Listen, the new law bypasses any offset. She does not qualify on her own, but yes, she can get half of your Dad's.

I'm from Illinois and we used to have the law that we teachers could not get a pension and social security (our SS benefits would be drastically reduced when collecting a pension). As public school teachers we don't pay into SS. But, we do pay into SS in most other jobs we work. I've been working since I was 16, restaurants, summer camps, etc. Even as I am close to retirement, I still work a summer job.

But, this past year, Illinois changed this law. We can now get our full SS benefits. IMHO it is still smart for educators to save as much as possible on top of these retirement plans. But as to the person who suggested it would be hard to live on 65K with a paid off house? I'm not saying that's the lap of luxury, but we could do it even if there was no other money. Illinois teachers have an excellent, modestly priced health insurance plan upon retirement which helps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope young teachers are advised when they start working to have a Roth IRA and an investment account as well because pension alone won't be enough for them since they won't be eligible for social security

I love that you think there's enough money for an investment account AND roth ira. That's sweet.

Roth is $7k max per year. For investment account as little as $100/month is possible. Are you telling a teacher can't do that?

Maybe older married teachers without kids or with kids out of college but I’m a single teacher trying to pay for my kid’s college. Once she graduates I’ll be able to take that money and put it in a Roth and my 403b. I’ll be 50 by then so I’ll probably keep my second job and use that for the catch up.

My friend is in the same position. His youngest just graduated college. He turned 56 last Saturday and we were going over his investment strategy. He now has an extra $2k at least than he can invest every month. He plan to retire at 65. He is sadly starting with $0 in Roth. He does have a pension, but no SS. He is a great guy. This country can frankly pay it's teachers much more, but that's a debate for another day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope young teachers are advised when they start working to have a Roth IRA and an investment account as well because pension alone won't be enough for them since they won't be eligible for social security

I love that you think there's enough money for an investment account AND roth ira. That's sweet.

Roth is $7k max per year. For investment account as little as $100/month is possible. Are you telling a teacher can't do that?

Most can't.

We must pay them more nationwide. I am in NY Westchester to be precise. We pay high school taxes here. Our teachers are paid decently, but not enough in my opinion. Now the superintendent etc absolutely outrageous ridiculous salaries.

Those of you who do not qualify for SS because of the Windfall Protection Act- you are either state or federal retirees, the Social Security Fairness Act was passed last December 2024. So- either apply based on your own 40 credits ( you may have them from other jobs outside of your govt job), or apply based on your spouse's SS ( including an ex spouse if you were married for at least 10 years)- of which you will get half while they are alive, and full if they pass away, and yes, it will be retroactive from Dec 2024.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope young teachers are advised when they start working to have a Roth IRA and an investment account as well because pension alone won't be enough for them since they won't be eligible for social security

I love that you think there's enough money for an investment account AND roth ira. That's sweet.

Roth is $7k max per year. For investment account as little as $100/month is possible. Are you telling a teacher can't do that?

Maybe older married teachers without kids or with kids out of college but I’m a single teacher trying to pay for my kid’s college. Once she graduates I’ll be able to take that money and put it in a Roth and my 403b. I’ll be 50 by then so I’ll probably keep my second job and use that for the catch up.

Not enough? My mom lives just fine on appt. $3500/month from SS. She worked as a nurse so no pension and no 401k back then. Her townhouse is paid off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother has a state pension from being a teacher for 35 years. No SS. My parents have a paid off house and investments, no rental property. My dad gets SS, but it’s not a lot as he took it as soon as he was eligible. No 401ks, but he has a SEP IRA. Mom gets $55k a year, dad draws about the same from his accounts and SS a year and they are more than fine.

Now your mom will get half of your dad's because of Social Security Fairness Act. Has she applied for SS?

She doesn’t qualify because the benefit is offset by her pension when we ran the numbers. My dad’s SS is tiny. He was a sole proprietor master plumber for decades, long before the cost of hiring a skilled tradesman skyrocketed.

Anonymous wrote:My mother has a state pension from being a teacher for 35 years. No SS. My parents have a paid off house and investments, no rental property. My dad gets SS, but it’s not a lot as he took it as soon as he was eligible. No 401ks, but he has a SEP IRA. Mom gets $55k a year, dad draws about the same from his accounts and SS a year and they are more than fine.

Now your mom will get half of your dad's because of Social Security Fairness Act. Has she applied for SS?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope young teachers are advised when they start working to have a Roth IRA and an investment account as well because pension alone won't be enough for them since they won't be eligible for social security

I love that you think there's enough money for an investment account AND roth ira. That's sweet.

Roth is $7k max per year. For investment account as little as $100/month is possible. Are you telling a teacher can't do that?

Most can't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope young teachers are advised when they start working to have a Roth IRA and an investment account as well because pension alone won't be enough for them since they won't be eligible for social security

I love that you think there's enough money for an investment account AND roth ira. That's sweet.

Roth is $7k max per year. For investment account as little as $100/month is possible. Are you telling a teacher can't do that?

Anonymous wrote:I hope young teachers are advised when they start working to have a Roth IRA and an investment account as well because pension alone won't be enough for them since they won't be eligible for social security

I love that you think there's enough money for an investment account AND roth ira. That's sweet.

I hope young teachers are advised when they start working to have a Roth IRA and an investment account as well because pension alone won't be enough for them since they won't be eligible for social security

Anonymous wrote:In some states teachers pay into the pension system and not SS.

This is how DCPS is. No SS.

My mother has a state pension from being a teacher for 35 years. No SS. My parents have a paid off house and investments, no rental property. My dad gets SS, but it’s not a lot as he took it as soon as he was eligible. No 401ks, but he has a SEP IRA. Mom gets $55k a year, dad draws about the same from his accounts and SS a year and they are more than fine.