Retirement two-step

So, I recently received retirement estimates from both TRS and ERS, and learned some very important things. First, TRS gives me more time credit than ERS does, which increases the monthly annuity a fair amount. Second, I have to work another year for the school district in order to be eligible for health insurance. I didn't realize the years I bought don't count for insurance purposes. It's a good thing I had decided to continue working anyway. Granted, I may retire from ERS instead, but I want the TRS option to be there in case it is better. And there was something else I learned, but now I can't remember what it was! This retirement thing is so complicated!

Just ". . . don't call me late for supper." Robert De Niro

Call me crazy, call me nuts, but you're too late to knock any sense into me. Today I signed a contract to work this summer. It will be OK. Summer School is not bad. It's actually kind of fun. The kids are different, the teachers are different, the school is different. Elvis will be disappointed. But it's only 5 hours a day for four days a week. I can deal with it. It's not like I really would have spent eight hours a day feng shuiing my house anyway. Hey, and I'll be rich--yea, right.

E/T Phone Home

I'm still alive. I'm still thinking thinking thinking about retiring. And I've actually been engaged in gathering (or attempting to gather) more information concerning my retirement. I talked to someone at ERS who was going to get information from the folks at TRS and get back to me in three or four days. That was almost two weeks ago and I still don't have any information! Then I went to a retirement seminar, where I did learn a few things--like there are lots of other school library folks looking into retirement! That is also where I saw Pat, another school librarian who follows this blog and she made me promise to post something again, so here I am. [This post is totally stream-of-unconsciousness, and I'm sure you will soon realize that my unconsciousness can be just as inane as my consciousness. So much so that it is sometimes hard to tell the difference.]

One of the things I was particularly hoping to get out of the seminar was a better understanding of the whole Social Security thing, but I found that presentation to be about as clear as mud. Maybe it was just that it was late in the day, but I really didn't understand what she was saying, and when I asked for a clarification, it didn't become any clearer. But, I did come away with the "feeling" that I could actually go and talk with someone at the Social Security office. So, I may try to do that over Spring break.

One of the things I am kind of sure of is that I won't be working this summer. But then, what does kind of sure mean? Basically it means that if I do decide to work this summer, I expect my friends to intervene and knock some sense into me!

So, there you have it. Now I must go prepare for my Academy Awards party by watching another movie from Netflix.