[ad_1]
Former teachers struggle to make ends meet in retirement
Reports by Rob Roth of KTVU.
Many retired educators in California find retirement much less comfortable than they had expected.
By law, retired educators are not allowed to receive social security benefits, although many have contributed to the system.
“I loved the children I taught. But I was penalized for this decision by the government,” said Lee Giammona, who spent 25 years teaching elementary school children in Santa Rosa.
For her, it was a second career.
But even though she loved to teach, she now wonders if she should have left her 10-year career in business for the classroom.
“If I had known this when I returned to teaching, I think I certainly would have reconsidered this decision,” she said.
SEE ALSO: ISS benefits keep people with disabilities and the elderly in poverty
When Giammona retired as a teacher in California, she had no idea that she would only be allowed to receive a small portion of the Social Security benefits she had paid into before continuing her education.
Under the deal elimination provision, she only receives $ 42 per month from Social Security.
“They can just keep it. It’s embarrassing. It’s like a slap in the face,” she said.
Giammona receives her teacher’s pension. But she didn’t teach long enough to maximize her retirement. And now she says she’s struggling.
“It’s very difficult to live with a limited amount of money,” she said.
Seniors delay their retirement
Seniors too poor to retire and for whom Social Security benefits cannot support the cost of living in the Bay Area have worked throughout the pandemic.
Giammona also received another unfortunate surprise.
When her husband died last year, she was not allowed to collect her social security benefits.
“I’m not getting anything. Nothing. Zero. And wow, I’m penalized again for being a teacher,” she said.
Giammona is far from alone.
The California Teachers’ Federation (CFT) estimates that nearly two million retired teachers and public sector employees who have previously held other jobs to supplement their lower pay will find out later in life that they will receive little or no social security contributions.
“Once people realize this is what’s going to happen, fewer people are going to go into teaching. We already have a serious shortage of teachers,” said Doug Orr, who took charge of his education. California Federation of Teachers retirement.
Orr chairs the CFT’s Retirement Policy Committee.
“People who thought they were going to get Social Security because they put money in, paid for that benefit, don’t get that benefit,” Orr said.
California is one of 15 states in the United States where public employees are barred from receiving most, if not all, of their social security. This also includes the benefits of their deceased spouses.
It was a decision made by public servants in the 1970s and 1980s. But it backfired, and now workers who have nothing to do with that decision are paying the price.
SEE ALSO: How federal rules prevent people with disabilities from saving for the future
“It’s a lack of fairness. And that’s what we’re trying to correct,” said Republican Representative Rodney Davis of Illinois. He is the author of Bill HR-82, which he calls the “Social Security Equity Act”. If passed, the bill would allow officials to collect Social Security benefits from other jobs and from their deceased spouses.
Opponents argue that these changes could pose a threat to the overall health of the social security fund. The proposals would increase social security payments by 1.5%.
“The unintended consequence of their version of trying to prolong the solvency of the Social Security system has been to punish families who have devoted their entire careers to public service,” Davis said.
The Davis Bill needs the support of 290 representatives to be put to a vote in Congress. It currently has 254 supporters.
He said the pandemic had slowed momentum. But Giammona said she couldn’t wait for the change any longer.
[ad_2]
Source link