Retirement jobs

[mickeyd]

I occasionally read about ERd folks here yearning to work part time or temp jobs. I ran across this http://www.retirementjobs.com/advice..._Age_Bias.html and it looked interesting as it seems to deal with a small segment of the looking-for-a-job crowd.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

some people know what they want to be when they grow up. but not only did i never grow up, also i never found anything i really wanted to do for a living before retirement. so that web site is just wasted on the peter-pan-likes of me. i was tailor-made for early retirement.

[rs0460a]

Either you are retired or you are working (regardless of the # of hours, and assuming you are getting "income").

Can't have it both ways. If I (like my BIL) would work a few hours a week (maybe to pay for my medical insurance), I would not be "retired". Semi-retired, part time, anything but having a "Retirement J*b"....

Please - no more profanity on this board (talking about being retired and having a j*b!)...

- Ron

[mountaintosea]

Well I went to the site and I could only look briefly before groaning. I saw that paragraph titled Be A Team Player. Our new boss calls us Team! I'll be retiring in 2008 and I never want to be called Team again!
I understand what they are trying to do. But it rubs me the wrong way. We are professionals and being called "Team" sounds silly. It sounds to me like they went to some seminar for admin people. :P

[mickeyd]

You know, I can take "Team" but it's when the boss starts refering to the workers as "his family" that I have to draw a line in the sand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd Retirement Jobs

oxymoron

[wabmester]

We took the kid roller skating today, and there was an old dude who was sort of the skating traffic cop. Seems like a nice low-stress gig, and he was very good on skates too. Get good exercise, improve your skating, and yell at kids all day. If you need a job in semi-retirement, I can imagine worse.

[Sundance Kid]

How about, being the Executioner, for the State Prison System? Probably, only have to work a few days a month. (Unless it's Texas.)

Get State benefits and a salary. Something to think about. Plus, your idenity is never disclosed to the media.

[AltaRed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundance Kid How about, being the Executioner, for the State Prison System? Probably, only have to work a few days a month. (Unless it's Texas.) Get State benefits and a salary. Something to think about. Plus, your idenity is never disclosed to the media.

Yeah, but how do you respond to the question... "what do you do for a living?"

[d]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cut-Throat oxymoron

ditto

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundance Kid How about, being the Executioner, for the State Prison System? Probably, only have to work a few days a month. (Unless it's Texas.)

In Illinois you'd be either retired or unemployed...Our former Crook...er, I mean Governor put an end to executions. He was afraid they might execute him an innocent soul.

I think I'll move to Texas....according to Ron White (Blue Collar Tour) they put in an express lane for executions! I LIKE!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by AltaRed Yeah, but how do you respond to the question... "what do you do for a living?"

"I execute justice!"

[Rick S]

Seems like even doing volunteer work for no pay could be either considered fun or a "job"... depending on whether it was fun or not!

I'm trying out something this year that is definitely fun for me, but I don't know if it will be in the framework of "corporate"

I may be sick, but I really enjoy doing income taxes
("doing" is different, of course, than "paying")
..... it's a puzzle that is fun to solve.

So... I'll be working as a "Tax Professional" for H&R Block.
I didn't want to commit too much time, so it's just 3 days a week.
.... and since the pay is minimum wage ($7.50 here in CA), it basically is a volunteer job. I don't know how much I'll like it, but, hey, if I don't, I can stop any time!

Has anyone else worked for H&R Block during tax season?
What did you think? Would you do it again?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick S Has anyone else worked for H&R Block during tax season?

No, but it is my perception you will be strongly encouraged to sell your clients on a shamefully high rate "refund loan", and if you don't meet some level of success at this you won't be rehired next year. I put H&R Block in the same category as pawn shops and payday loan finance companies.

As I said, this is my perception. If you go to work there you should be able to present us with first hand information on the accuracy/inaccuracy of my opinion.

BTW: I'm doing volunteer "w*rk" preparing tax returns for low income clients.

[Rick S]

Thanks, REWahoo... I appreciate your input.

The "refund loans" are outrageous.... I think it's over 100% per year.
.. and the Loan Contract clearly states on it that the refund will be available in their account if they e-file and do direct deposit within 10-12 days... without a loan.... and I certainly will be pointing that out to them!

One good thing they do offer is a free (if used right) debit card for those low income people that usually do business via check-cashing companies and money orders... it could save them a bunch.

Some other people seem to be in this for the money (longer term) as the minimum wage is couched as a "draw" against sales.
... but I've been told that if one's goal is to help people, you can ignore the BS and will continue to be rehired.
... but don't expect to make more than min wage (which is fine with me).

I'll post more when I know more... but my motivation is certainly NOT to sell useless products to those that can least afford them; my goal is to help and have fun doing it!

Thanks again,
... Rick

[Sundance Kid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goonie In Illinois you'd be either retired or unemployed...Our former Crook...er, I mean Governor put an end to executions. He was afraid they might execute him an innocent soul. I think I'll move to Texas....according to Ron White (Blue Collar Tour) they put in an express lane for executions! I LIKE!!! "I execute justice!"

I'm a license plate inspector!

[Rick S]

Seasonal Tax Professional -- H&R Block experience

Well, I promised a reply when I knew more about this.

I quit this part-time "job" yesterday.
... my experience is that they are unethical.

Without going into details, I had a choice of doing something right for the client (where they'd still go to H&R Block but not our office)... or doing something wrong for the client, but in our office... and was told to do the wrong thing... because it's all about the revenue for our office!!!

As I put in my resignation letter:
"I have lost respect for H&R Block and cannot represent them to the public.
I cannot support such unethical business behavior"

Taxes are, for me, just for the for the fun of it anyway.... a puzzle to solve.

... if you're doing it for the money, it's MINIMUM WAGE at Block
($7.50 per hour in CA). They say you'll make much more when you build up your client base... but no one in their first year makes more than the "draw against commissions" of minimum wage.
And, since I do consider myself FIREd, it's definitely not about the $.

.... plus... it just doesn't feel right charging people ~$200-$300 to do a modest Fed and State return when they can least afford it.

I'm meeting with someone next week to do taxes for AARP as a volunteer.

I'll post more about the volunteer AARP experience when I get into it... but it sure feels better knowing I'll be helping people rather than gouging them.

Comments and/or questions appreciated!
... Rick

[mickeyd]

Quote:

In Illinois you'd be either retired or unemployed...Our former Crook...er, I mean Governor put an end to executions. He was afraid they might execute him an innocent soul. I think I'll move to Texas....according to Ron White (Blue Collar Tour) they put in an express lane for executions! I LIKE!!! "I execute justice!" I'm a license plate inspector!

I'm looking for a position as a lap dance inspector. I think that's a job that I can really get up for.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick S I quit this part-time "job" yesterday. ... my experience is that they are unethical.

Sorry about that Rick, but you confirmed my suspicions of this bunch (see my earlier post in this thread).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick S I'm meeting with someone next week to do taxes for AARP as a volunteer. I'll post more about the volunteer AARP experience when I get into it... but it sure feels better knowing I'll be helping people rather than gouging them.

I start my training with them on Monday. I look forward to hearing about your experience. My volunteer leader seems a little...uh..."scattered". Not a particularly endearing characteristic for someone who is supposed to be teaching you how to prepare tax returns.

I sent her an email asking where we would meet for training next week and got all sorts of information in return...but not where we would meet. I sent a second email, and got this in return:

Sorry, I forgot the most important part. When you get to town, you make a right at the second red light. Cross the railroad tracks and take a right on 18th Street. There is a 2 story rock bldg on the corner. It used to be Geronimos. It has a black iron fence around the patio on the east side. The second bldg on your left is the Senior and Community Center. This is made out of a redish block. There are two parking areas on the East side separated by a row of oak trees. You may park anywhere you like. See you there.

Like I say, I look forward to sharing my experience with you.

[REWahoo]

This is an old thread but I wanted to follow up with a summary of my adventures as a volunteer tax preparer for the AARP Tax-Aide program, part of the IRS-Sponsored Tax Counseling for the Elderly.

The IRS describes the program this way: "Trained and certified AARP Tax-Aide volunteer counselors can help people of low-to-moderate income with special attention to those aged 60 and older". Well, I did get trained and by the end of the tax season I was almost certifiable.

Actually, the training to use the IRS-furnished software wasn't bad. All volunteer tax preparers had to attend a training program lasting 4 hours a day for seven days. We were tested (open book) before being certified to prepare Federal returns. The software was not nearly as user friendly as Turbotax or similar consumer oriented programs. It was similar to filling out a paper 1040 online, with the math done for you by the computer. For example, a client would hand you a 1099-R, a brokerage statement, or a W2-G and you had to know where to input the information. We (4 volunteers and two volunteer program leaders) worked in a large room (no client privacy ) and constantly collaborated when we had questions of how to handle something out of the ordinary...such as the 1099 a couple received from a bank who forgave some credit card debt.

While I enjoyed w*rking with my fellow volunteers and the majority of the clients we served were deserving and very appreciative of our help, I'm not sure I'll go back again next year. I had several problems with the program, all centered around the sour old German couple who led the program.

Instead of restricting the assistance we gave to low income and elderly, we did returns for anyone and everyone. It seems the more tax returns we did the more computers the IRS would provide the local program for next year, so the leaders focus was on volume rather than age and income. That's not to say we never turned anyone down - we would not do returns for someone with rental or farm income, for example. I will admit to getting frustrated as I spent two hours working on a return for a couple who had a dozen or more 1099's and other documents from the sale of stock, dividend income, interest income, and annuity income. And the fact the essobee had a significantly larger income than me didn't help either. :P

But I think what irritated me more than any of that was the attitude of our leaders, AKA "Franz" and "Hilda". As I said, we worked in a large room at the local library. Four volunteers did the return, then fed them to F & H to review. If they found a mistake, they would yell across the room, "Hey REW, don't you know how to spell XXXXXX?" or "Hey Mary, you forgot to XXXXX!" All the other volunteers would look at each other and roll their eyes each time they loudly pointed out our mistakes or omissions to everyone in the room. I'm sure it instilled a lot of confidence in the clients we were working with at the time.

Add to the above the fact that I never heard Franz or Hilda ever said "thank you" to a single volunteer. I heard them complain a lot about the clients, the IRS staff they worked with, the software, the computers they were using, the library facilities, the weather, and everything else under the sun. But in the 13 weeks I was involved with the program, driving 75 miles round trip each day, I never heard them say thank you to any of the volunteers.

Call me an old grouch, but I don't think I'm going to continue to be involved in this program again unless they get some new leadership. I'm sure I can find something much more rewarding to entertain me next year from late January to mid April.

[Martha]

Bummer. I was interested in hearing about your experience because I would like to do the same thing next year. But maybe Franz and Hilda won't be here. I won't do my own taxes, but other people's sound like fun. Law day is May 1 and I am going to sit at the mall answering legal questions for people. No training necessary and no one looking over my shoulder. Should be fun.