It IS real.....

[iris lilies]

I went to graduate school a second time to train for a career I knew I would love. I was at the height of the pay scale after 15 years and made 62k with a master’s degree. 4K of that went to my pension. I was fine with that because I loved my work. It was much more important to like working versus making the big bucks.

Well that’s what my parents always said was the goal of a college degree that will get you a job. The goal isn’t to make a lot of money. the goal is to have access to many choices for jobs that you would enjoy.

[iris lilies]

I can remember being amazed several years ago during a debate over changing our state pension plan to require employees to pay half the annual contribution (generally 6-7%). There were people going on television predicting that this would outrage the unpensioned public, who would rally to their cause. You can guess what happened. I heard from other public employees who insisted that they could easily go elsewhere and make twice as much, but I never saw it happen.

It’s strange how many people feel ill-used despite the evidence all around them.

yes. I distinctly remember our Head honcho saying to the administrative staff something like “I know you all can make so much more money elsewhere so I appreciate you all being here” but only our IT guys could, and perhaps the finance people. He said this to be kind and complementary as he always was, but I don’t think it’s especially kind to encourage delusion.

I remember the public employee debacle up north there. That’s pretty interesting that so many people thought they would see support from taxpayers at their refusal to fund their own pension.


I am super Duper happy having a pension from my city for however long it lasts. It is the critical mass amount of monthly income that allows us to be not at all worried about our finances. If it went away tomorrow we would still be fine because we have multi prong ways to access money, but boy does the pension act as a relief valve.

[ApatheticNoMore]

This did give me a little chuckle and a reminder that "perception" is so important. I would LOVE to make 62k right now and would definitely consider it "making the big bucks". LOL. The closest I ever came to that kind of a salary was way back when as a programmer.

I do agree about it being important to like the work, but - again - not everyone has that option.

yea perception, I've figured 50k (gross, oh we definitely have state income tax) is minimum needed here to have a studio apartment and pay other bills, maybe save a small amount for retirement, basically to live on. And that's not a budget with much slack and there are times I need slack (ack I'm losing my mind need therapy etc.). But it's you can live on it without being another day older and deeper in debt, the basics get met, you don't have to have a bunch of roommates probably. You can live on less with *several* roommates perhaps.

But then I do live in a high cost of living area, I suspect I would find most "high cost of living areas" quite affordable in comparison (the exceptions being NYC or SFO bay area - that ain't cheap, I could probably make more than I do here in SFO though, there are more opportunities).

[pinkytoe]

I was probably one of the last group of employees to get a decent pension and paid health insurance from the state university where I worked in admin positions for many years...and that was only five years ago. I am extremely grateful for it but also know that nothing is guaranteed in the future where pensions are concerned. I try to imagine what I would do now if I were 18 all over again.

[Teacher Terry]

Ypejji, what’s your master’s degree in? I did have to leave Wisconsin to use it because vocational evaluation is a tiny speciality field and the best college was in Wisconsin. Each state only employs 4-10 evaluators but the good news is there’s a shortage of people with degrees in that speciality. If I had went into forensic vocational rehabilitation they bill between 200-350/hour. It’s stressful because you testify in court frequently getting grilled by lawyers. That’s where the big bucks are.

The medium money is to work in private for a company. I don’t have the temperament to be at ease with testifying. I could have done private work but then your focus is not the client since you are paid by the insurance company. Plus I wanted a pension. Where I live has a HCOL. Reno was rated the 21st most unaffordable city. In contrast a friend of mine has a BA and started with the Feds as a clerk typist. She rose to paralegal and made 100k/year.

[Yppej]

English.

[happystuff]

Well that’s what my parents always said was the goal of a college degree that will get you a job. The goal isn’t to make a lot of money. the goal is to have access to many choices for jobs that you would enjoy.

Unfortunately, a college degree is no longer a guarantee that you will get a job, let alone one that is "enjoyed".

[Teacher Terry]

Yppej, why not take the classes necessary for a teaching certification? Some states are so desperate for teachers that they have a special program where they hire and then give them time to obtain the credentials. The days of any college degree leading to a job are long gone. You need to make sure it translates into a specific field, area, etc to be useful. I learned this the hard way with my BA being worthless.

[Yppej]

Yppej, why not take the classes necessary for a teaching certification? Some states are so desperate for teachers that they have a special program where they hire and then give them time to obtain the credentials. The days of any college degree leading to a job are long gone. You need to make sure it translates into a specific field, area, etc to be useful. I learned this the hard way with my BA being worthless.

I have so many years in the private sector paying into Social Security I want to maximize it. If I switch to the public sector I would mess that up. If in the public sector long enough I would get a pension, but the pension would reduce my SS benefits and I think I would be worse off.

Also, I taught for a year and a half as a longterm substitute, certified at the time, and the politics in the school system drove me nuts. While there is some patronage, cronyism and nepotism in the private sector in my experience it pales in comparison to what goes on in local and state government.

[Teacher Terry]

I didn’t realize your state was one of the few that didn’t pay into SS. It would definitely be a mistake at your age. Nevada is the same way but I don’t think I came out worse because I had a fair number of years out of the job market. Lots of politics, who you know, etc in state service also.