So I’m retired

I started receiving partial Social Security benefits (such a strange word for money being given back to me after paying into the system for 40+ years) last month and I must say that it has eased my financial concerned immensely.

I’m also getting out and earning more money driving for Uber (almost) exclusively. I think I’ll have to be careful not to earn more than $21,240/year lest I lose my partial benefits until I turn 67 when I’ll receive the full amount, anyway. $21,240/year translates to $408/week, and I can earn that doing Uber in my sleep. I am set to receive $1,184/month which equates to $14,208/year. I’m told that those earnings are taxable as income, which I don’t fully understand because I’ve already been taxed as income when I originally had taxes withheld on my gross income at the time, didn’t I? Now I have to pay income tax on top on income tax? I’m so confused.

So, $408/week is all I’m allowed to make with Uber which translates to about $100 for 4 days/week.

Bottom line is: I’m thinking that, although I’m now on a “fixed income,” I should be able to breathe more easily until I die, which I keep thinking is sooner rather than later.

An update

I haven’t updated my blog in quite some time. My bad. Matt Mullenweg said at a WordCamp many years ago about how microblogging platforms like Facebook and Twitter might diminish regular personal blogs. I think there’s some truth to that.

I rarely post on the leftist echo chamber that Twitter has become. Still, I do post quite a lot on Facebook, even though I keep my religious and political views relegated to a private group of somewhat like-minded people. They may not always agree with me but at least they acknowledge my rights to believe and speak them without calling me any of the “-ist” pejoratives.

Anyway, that’s why I haven’t been posting to my own blog. That, and potential employer’s HR departments now read people’s Facebook and blogs, lest I be passed over for a job that I want because of something innocuous that I said 7 years ago or something. As I’ve sort of semi-retired now it’s less of a problem, but it’s still a problem.

For example, I’ve recently applied for a Help Desk position at UTSA. That’s the University of Texas at San Antonio for you non-San Antonians. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t get it, of course, but if that happens I’ll just keep paying the bills with Uber and Social Security.

That’s another thing in my life these days: I’m receiving partial Social Security benefits. I’m 62 now, but I applied for early benefits and I have to say, getting back what I paid to our bloated federal government is quite helpful on the pocketbook. If I get the UTSA or pretty much any other job it’ll put me over the $19,000/year threshold and I won’t get any more benefits until I’m either 67 or go back to making less than the maximum allowed again, but if I do get such a position, my annual income won’t need it. It’s kind of a nice cushion.

Of course, I still fear we’re headed toward a worse recession than we’re in right now, or maybe even a depression. I’m not worried about it because there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it except being as frugal as reasonable and, when the opportunity allows, stuff income away in gold or Bitcoin or both. Health-wise I’ll be screwed, especially if the VA or the USPS goes down, but if either of those happens, we’ll all be screwed, not just me.

I try to remember a phrase that has helped me tremendously when I suffer from my major depression: “None of this takes God by surprise.”

My take is everything collapses and a New World Order is instituted to recover from it, either way, I’ll see Christ’s face sooner rather than later. Either He’ll come again, or I’ll die (probably in opposition) and see Him that way. It’ll be good to see Mom & Dad, Mimi & Paw Paw again, plus I’ll get to hang out with the Apostle Paul, and Peter… heck all of the Apostles. It’ll be epic!

I’ve got nothing else major to share: My body’s starting to hurt in places where it didn’t hurt before, some equipment doesn’t work anymore (just your imagination on that,) Sharon is encouraging me to find a less expensive first-floor apartment here or elsewhere and I think I agree with her. I bought a dashcam to mount on the car’s dash because it better ensures my personal safety and might even lower my car insurance, I’ve ordered a replacement logic board for my mid-2012 MacBook Pro and as long as I don’t botch the replacement I’m fairly certain that it’ll fix the problem where it shuts off at random and sometimes doesn’t even start up. I’ve been making these 10-hour-long videos of ambient noise (cat purring, air conditioner, gentle rain, light ocean waves, etc.) and posting them on YouTube because people use stuff like that to fall asleep and I hope to be able to create a passive income stream by monetizing them, but that’s a long way off. I keep talking about working on the Texas history podcast but never seem to find the time and the energy at the same time.

That’s about it. I’ll try not to be a stranger in the future.