Community Forums

J-N-Lham · 03-24-2019, 02:04 PM

I know I will get a response stating there is a thread on this subject. I have looked and found some very old threads and none that pertain to my questions.
I am not feeble nor poor and would like to have something to do other than set in my chair and look at the rocks, 24/7. A little responsibility.
Here are a few.
Taxes how will that work?
That wonderful Social Security Tax do they withhold? (the more credits the better) even though I probably wont see it after paying for 48+ years.
Home Address. Probably will pick up Florida or one of the other mailbox services for an address as we hope to travel some more.
What are the work assignment periods. If longer term do I have to claim residency?
Lets get some discussion going as we are not all old and on oxygen, though I feel sorry for those who are.
If you tell me there is a thread already here on this, Where!

Just call me "60+ and Still Going Strong"
And remember an active mind will remain a active mind.
Sorry if off topic.

450Donn · 03-24-2019, 02:25 PM

Woek assignments? All over the place. We camp hosted for 7 years for the Oregon State Parks system. Their requirement is 20 hours a week each for a couple or 30 hours a week for a single. I generally worked a lot more than that because I enjoyed it. None of the park rangers asked me to do anything I felt I could not handle. If your looking for paid gigs, that can range from 20 to 40 hours a week. You may also be asked to pay for your site or not. There is no one rule. When you go looking for jobs, they should list job duties, hours, pay, and what you may have to pay for.
If money is not a big deal you might find it more satisfying to volunteer at parks, either BLM, NF, or state parks, or any number of other organizations that utilize volunteers to help keep within budget and keep parks open. Work camping, volunteering is what you make it.

J-N-Lham · 03-24-2019, 02:45 PM

Thanks for the reply. Social security is the main concern as DW worked a position that was self funded retirement for most of employment life has only a few credits. I being self employed, never know. What of Medicare/Medicaid our insurace is quite expensive now I can only imagine later.

J-N-Lham · 03-24-2019, 02:57 PM

Thanks Clifftall
Found some threads but all were like 5+ yrs old. Where did you move it too?

dfchrist · 03-24-2019, 07:04 PM

Look under RVlifestyles. There’s a whole forum on workcamping and volunteering

grindstone01 · 03-24-2019, 07:17 PM

We started full timing at age 55 about 6 years ago. As far as taxes go, make your dominant state one that has no state income tax, like TX, Fl, or SD. We also like to volunteer to keep busy and stay challenged with projects. The longest gig we have stayed at is 3 months, but we have found that 6 weeks is ideal for us. The first month you learn the job, the second month you become efficient at the job and the third month gets boring for us. Like any job you can negotiate your work conditions and length of volunteer time. If the terms don't fit your volunteer desires, then keep looking. Here is one past discussion on the volunteer subject.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f92/worki...-430162-3.html
Pick your passion and look for volunteer/pay gig's that satisfy that interest like hot air balloons, fishing, golfing, farming, etc. Retirement/full timing is a time to do the things you always wanted to get involved with.

450Donn · 03-24-2019, 07:50 PM

Look up workcamper news, sign up and start looking.

TC Wndsr · 03-24-2019, 08:21 PM

If you really don’t need to work for the money, volunteering is definitely the way to go. Lots of opportunities out here, usually shorter time commitments, supervisors are easygoing and less demanding and the work is much more satisfying.

missourijan · 03-25-2019, 10:19 AM

X2 on what previous poster said. Are you assuming that all workamping jobs pay $$. There are many volunteer opportunities out there. Look at WorkampingJobs.com - Free Job Listings from Campgrounds and RV Parks, www.volunteer.gov, even Coolworks has temp jobs. We have fulltimed for 12 years and mostly volunteered at state parks. We worked for the Corps of Engineers for 3 summer seasons, they pay but it's a lot of hours. We are working at a Cal Am park in Tucson now, they pay but schedule you just enough hours to pay your rent & power. We will have some tax consequences next year but it's not that much $$ and will be negligible. Volunteering at state parks is rewarding and every state park is short of funds and so grateful to have volunteers.

Steveo57 · 03-25-2019, 09:48 PM

I have been a volunteer host at a State Park for two summers. No pay is how I like it. The thought of having to file tax returns in various states is not something that I want to hassle with any more. Been there done that and it was a pain.

grindstone01 · 03-26-2019, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steveo57

I have been a volunteer host at a State Park for two summers. No pay is how I like it. The thought of having to file tax returns in various states is not something that I want to hassle with any more. Been there done that and it was a pain.

Wife and I worked the sugar beet harvest in ND last year and the out of state ND tax was a 2 page easy to fill out form for a tax of $21 on a $10k ND earned income. In this case the tax pain was not too bad!
I do like volunteering in SP's and the ND income allows that experience w/o using the retirement savings.

jbrv · 03-26-2019, 08:22 PM

A lot of places that pay are not going to put you on a legit payroll.

You are gonna be a 1099 and pay your own ss taxes and what not.

Not many places will have you on a reg w-2 employee and have the haassels that come with that liike payrol taxes and workers comp.

Want to really have some fun try to figure out how you would do it without medicare or the ACA.

We try to to volunteer work to aviod that mess. we dont really need the money so we try to stay away from paid gigs and just do work in exchange for a site (volunteer) Volunteer work is more rewarding and less bs. if you are getting paid odds are there is someone up the food chain who wants to keep the money they are paying you or wants you to somehow help the bottom line by doing more with less so they can afford a nicer car or house or longer vacation. I left the working world to escape that madness. Besides its supposed to be fun and as soon as pay get involved the fun starts to get pusheed ut. it becomes a job real fast. a poor paying job at that.

We hve found that min 3 months is best. being willing to commit to a full season or close to it helps. May- late sept. oct to late march. shorter ccan be had but those willing to commit to the season tend to be favored by employers and volunteer corridnators ver those looking to do half season or 2 months or whaatever. Just like every employeer the idea off the only dealing with training a volunteer one time over a season is a lot better than doing it two or three times a season.

Btipton · 03-27-2019, 10:42 PM

We volunteer primarily at wildlife refuges. No pay, but help is greatly appreciated, and it may as well be a paycheck because I’m not paying for a site.

BTFT · 04-05-2019, 10:19 AM

I think there is some misunderstanding or misinformation in some responses at least as I read them...

Medicare is not affected by you taking a temp/full time/seasonal job.

If you are on SS I wouldnt worry about the income you make affecting your SS. You are unlikely to make enough to affect it and after 66 you can make as much as you want with no penalty.

I have worked as a Foreman of a Beet Piler site on the beet harvest and I drive a 45ft tour coach for Holland America/Princess in Alaska some summers. (as well as others)

State tax issues have been WAY OVERBLOWN in the responses here. The ones I have filled out for several states have been dead simple and usually 1 or two pages long and can be done online. In each case I got back all I paid in (which was very small anyway) So don't sweat this. If you use something like Turbo tax (which I can't use) it will do it for you automatically.

While volunteering can be a good thing for both sides...I prefer paid positions. I feel it puts you on a more professional level and comes with a bit more respect. But more than that the "volunteer" label has been stretched beyond any resemblance of it's true meaning. In any case Volunteering can in some cases actually cost you money so be careful to vette any volunteer position carefully.

I highly recommend working occasionally as it keeps you engaged and active and meeting new people. Go for it and don't worry so much about it.