Blogging Melodrama

I'm a crippled baby boomer. Do you know anything about Social Security and early retirement?Do you know anyone that does? I'm beginning to wonder if I should retire early or just shoot myself in my already crippled foot.

I'm disabled and working part time 2hrs day; 40 hrs a month. SSI Disability is threatening to take my disability away and are advising me to take early retirement.
I now supplement my monthly income of 853.00 with average 300.00 and am still having a hard time making it with all my bills. I have all these bills from trying to survive while waiting to get my disability, and trying to retrain myself.

The company I worked for when I had the industrial accident that finished my physical working career wouldn't pay for the bills associated with the injury, nor would they pay for retraining. I wound up with school loans to pay back, because I wasn't told about the grants that wouldn't have to be payed back. I get no other assistance from anywhere. I am suppose to get medication each month and many months have to do without. I tried helping myself by doing without foot to enroll in the new Medicare prescription plan card; I'm told I don't qualify because I have too much income. I asked if I would qualify before I sent the money, because they told me I could save half of the monthly amount I paid for my prescriptions which run over 100.00 a month. This great plan and advice was just another scam that got my money and gave me nothing in return. It just makes one wonder if anyone knows how to tell the truth anymore?

I don't trust any of them any more after the big hype on the prescription card, which followed being told by Social Security Administration that it was OK for me to work part time as long as I didn't go over 700.00 a month. I hit 600.00 twice in the last 2 years and now the next time I do it, I'm cut off. How's that for suckering the public? I worked 3 and 4 jobs all my life earning the money they are taking the disability out of to give to me. They checked and double checked and made sure I had the funds to warrant 853.00 a month; yet now I'm being threatened to loose it because I believed them.
Boy do we need a major overhaul in our government agencies. Just remember they get theirs and don't give a rat's eyeballs what happens to the rest of us.

SSA Response to my question.

"We must pay you the higher of the two benefits. You would receive more as a disabled individual than you would as an early retiree. You would approximately loose 25% of your benefit amount if you were receiving benefits as an early retiree. Your questions depend on many different situations, for more in depth information you should contact our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213, one of our representatives will be glad to help you. "

25% less from 650.00 month for retirement at 65 means I'd get 487.50 a month to try to live on. After adding the 300.00 it would only be 787.50 a month to live on. Add in my laughable retirement money vested from the sawmill I worked at for 10 years (103.00) and now my income would be 890.50. Now keep in mind I would have to go through all the hoops to get the vested retirement money at least 3 - 6 months and I don't know that I can keep working even 2 hours a day. I missed a lot of time last year due to sickness and there are new government regulations on the job I'm working part time starting in November, 04.

I could wind up back out in the street with all the other hard working Americans that get kicked aside by our government. When citizens no longer make money that can be ripped off by our so called representatives for their fancy lifestyles and perks. People are cast aside and ignored, or labeled eye sores on the landscape. Ah yes I can see it now; tell me more sweet lies and feed us your bullshit so your wages can keep getting raised each year while regulating our lives until we become the new slaves in the kinder, gentler nation. Let's make sure that big businesses gets more tax breaks. Send some more jobs out of the country. Continue to raise the wages of our Senators and Representatives every year while stripping the American citizens of their rights. Make sure our so called representatives and leaders have health care and free lunches, gas, limousines, secretaries, office supplies, plain fare, vacations, the same income for life upon retirement, and, and. Make sure our soldiers have to pay for their own care and supplies. Make sure you get while everyone else suffers.
AAAAAaaaaaahhhhh!

Where's our Minuteman and woman when we need one? Oh that's right, they are being forced to go to another country and fight a war that was begun on more lies, while our home front gets only lip service (meaning more lies, and they sent Martha Stewart to prison for lying) and is presented with the bills.

I think I'll pass on shooting myself in the crippled foot, and I don't think I'm going to retire any time soon. My government is taking care of me. Bless their hearts.