Anonymous wrote:

What's the appeal of pension if one can't have social security? Or is it specific to some companies where you choose one or the other. This person I think retired as a teacher but I don't know the state.

Teachers in about 14 states don't contribute to Social Security. Instead they pay more percentage of their salary to their state teacher retirement system, which is supposed to function for them the same as Social Security does. So they typically get a larger pension when they retire than those of us who teach in states where we do pay into SS.

In the past, such teachers who happened to also occasionally work Social Security jobs (working in high school and college, summer non teaching jobs, evening and weekend gigs, etc) contributed to SS in those paychecks. But didn't qualify for any SS benefits later on.

Now, people like your friend shoulw take a look at their Social Secuity history. If you have 40 credits of work (that's 10 years) where you paid into Social Security, even a teacher in one of these states should be able to claim a little benefit from SS now. It doesn't take much in earnings to get to one full credit. Your friend may well have earned a credit or two in high school; some credits for work in college, and maybe some other jobs.

Depending on his circumstances, he might already have 40 credits, or be very close. In that case it would make sense for him to get a part time job and pay into social security to be able to secure the minimum benefit.

Is it a solid red state? If it is, I might also hesitate. Some red state leaders will mirror the current toxic leadership styles of the federal government and try to out-Trump Trump so they can either be visible on a national scale or don’t get primaried. They may want to look for high-paid state employees to purge and someone making $300k will definitely be in their sights. If it’s a purple or blue state, way less likely to happen.

Anonymous wrote:My mother is a retired teacher in Ohio and she just went to the social security office last week. She will receive $2,500 monthly, which is a life changing amount for her. She spent decades helping children in rural schools. This is the least we can do for teachers.

Happy for your mom!

My mother is a retired teacher in Ohio and she just went to the social security office last week. She will receive $2,500 monthly, which is a life changing amount for her. She spent decades helping children in rural schools. This is the least we can do for teachers.