Anna Leigh":3sil1l80 said:
I notice you mentioned "after a certain age" Kind of evasive??
How much more time on the paid dept?\
At age 65, if you don't retire in the volunteer fire department system in the State of Washington and have a full 25 years of service in, then you lose $300.00 per month. (Obviously, I could have "retired" 7 years ago after putting in the 25 years, but just not drawn on the system until age 65 so I could receive the full amount), but since I love doing this type of activity, I chose to continue until I was at an age that I'd lose money if I didn't retire. Since, I want to be certain that Carol has access to my benefit after I die (seeing as how she is MUCH YOUNGER than me and usually the women out last the men in life longevity), I'll be taking a slightly lesser amount each month so she can continue receiving the money.
I'm still able to teach ongoing education classes at our volunteer department. In fact, I'm scheduled to teach the next two Thursday nights.
As far as the continuance of my full time employment as a Paramedic/Firefighter, I intend to stay on as long as I can physically continue. Jessica is a freshman in college and we are paying out of pocket for her education and with the current economy as it is, the money we set aside for her college education is tied into the stock market downturn and is now worth at least 50% less than it was one year ago. That being said, I'm not about to cash in stock that has decreased that much in value.
Joel, it is too bad that the State of California did not look after their volunteer firefighters as much as the State of Washington, because you obviously spent a LOT of your time and money in providing a greatly needed service to your community. When I first joined the volunteer department I had no idea that it involved a retirement stipend. Obviously, we don't do these volunteer activities for the money, but do so in order to help our neighbors.
I would venture to say that the majority of C-Brats have been and still are active in many organizations in which they contribute their time and expertise to assist others...e.g. USCGAUX, hospital guilds, food banks, search and rescue, reserve police officers, etc. etc.
As a side note......for those of you that are not aware of it.....the majority of firefighters in the United States are volunteers, (not full time paid), that respond 24 hours a day from home to their respective fire stations, and then on the apparatus to the scene of the emergency. I've seen over the years that folks that move from the city to the country, have no clue that this is how their emergency medical/fire services are structured.
