On August 1, I completed 30 years of government service. On August 2, I retired from a Social Security position that paid me 58000.00 dollars a year to spend most of my week opening mail, writing names on folders, and answering the phone. There was no exit interview to ask why a 55 year old with a useless college degree would retire from such a position. This website is my exit interview.

My former Manager reports to an Area Director. She acts as an intermediary between the Regional Commissioner and District Managers in her Area. She has an Area Administrative Assistant and a Management Support Specialist to assist her. She appraises the performance of District Managers by reviewing their statistics results. Travel budget constraints prevent her actually spending time with District Managers or visiting local offices to observe their daily operations. I am told she has never worked in a local office.

Eight months before I retired, the Area Director issued a memo declaring fiscal year action goals. It set work standards that I consider impossible for the staffing patterns within her Area. In a staff meeting shortly thereafter, my Manager read a letter from the Area Director to the Regional Commissioner and District Managers. She remarked that instead of embracing the new goals, people were giving her "the same old tired excuses." She explained the employment contract as meaning that employees who could not meet the goals of their employer "should look for employment outside the agency."

I think my half of a contract with the Social Security Administration was to work as hard as I could for eight hours a day, to be efficient, and to suggest improvements. I have been granted 19 employee suggestion awards during my career. I do not feel that my half of the contract was to meet goals that became more ambitious while staff was declining. In any event, I think that the employer half of the contract is to provide the employee the resources to accomplish his mission. I do not think the President, the Congress, the Commissioners, or Area Directors have done that.

I got tired of letting my overpayment cases get older, while everybody with a phone was my boss. I rarely got to do case reviews that would produce overpayments and terminations, because I spent most of my week opening mail and answering phone calls from people who wanted to tell me that their job or their workers compensation stopped. They, and my Manager, expected me to accommodate each of them first. Therefore, I retired from the Social Security Administration as soon as I was eligible.

I now have a manageable job that pays me half of what I was paid at Social Security, while Social Security continues to pay me the other half of what I was paid at Social Security.

These pages offer my insider views on Social Security issues with which I have worked. They are only my opinions, and I invite your opinions by email or through my forum page. You will see links or references to the official Social Security website throughout this website.

This site is a work in progress, as pages and articles are constructed. Please check back.