Windfall Elimination

J. headed to Modesto today to see H. .  We were hoping to spend time with him and M. (his friend) but she can't go today.  (Her out patient is through Kaiser and it's almost daily for 6+ hours a day!  That's the 'intensive' in IOP (Intensive Out Patient).)  We do hope to spend time with them soon.

H. was hoping to have lunch with us today and needed to since he rode with J. on Friday and left his wallet in the car.  (Grrr.  Seriously.  The kid needs to figure that out 'cuz he leaves his wallet in cars all the time).  So J. trekked to Modesto - with a box of cereal, a blanket, two pillow slips and H.'s wallet with him. 

I've continued working in the garage - the recycle bin is full to the brim and so is trash.  I finally drained the case of Coors cans and rinsed and added them to our soda can recycle trash can.  (Add: take cans/bottles to recycling to J.'s to do list this week.  Poor guy.  His list is HUGE this week).  B. bought them a couple years ago and there's no way I will drink Coors.  So they are now another thing out of the garage!!  Woo hoo!

I got an email alert about jobs posted for the Carson City School District - and there's a Business job open.  If only we were a year from now - I'd be applying for sure!  (Well, maybe.).  I'd actually eliminated that school district from my list of possible employers because on their website, they state that the district does not contribute to Social Security for ANY job - and I worried I would run in to an issue with claiming Social Security when the time comes?  There's a Windfall Elimination Provision which affects people who've worked in jobs where social security is paid into by employer and employee and jobs where social security isn't paid into.  Teachers in our State typically do not pay Social Security - so if they worked previously in jobs that paid into it, their Social Security amount will be affected by the earnings in years they didn't pay in.  It's complicated - and I've been worried about it since discovering our soon-to-be local school district doesn't pay into Social Security. 

I eliminated that worry today when I went to the Social Security website and read about it.  Because I have 30+ years of 'substantial earnings', I will never be affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision!  The amount considered 'substantial' is defined by year (and charted on the SS website) and I've got more than 30 years so NO ISSUE.  EVER!  Wow, that is such a relief.  I could work for the district and bring home 6.2% more than I did in California PLUS pay no State tax on those earnings as well! 

If we end up feeling like we need some financial 'boost' and/or I'm feeling not ready to not work, I have that employer as an option - and so does J. .  We could both substitute teach (for example) - picking the days we say yes or no and also can base that on the grade level. It just creates more options and I like feeling like we have plenty of options. 

Pretty sure the odds are in favor of 'never working again' but I appreciate having information that makes working part-time feasible if I decide to.

I'm going to focus on my desk for awhile.  It's crazily a mess and I need to reign it in a bit.