to work or not to work

[one more cast]

Heres the scoop......<br /> I am 45 years old and have been off work for about 5 years due to Rhumatoid Arthritis (RA).I live on SSD and a 21 year papermakers pension.I want to do something with my life but I don't know what. I've always worked with my hands but that may be a problem now. some days I feel pretty good and some days I can't even put my socks on.Some days I can climb a ladder and some days I can barely walk. If I earn over $500/month I will lose my SSD.I take top shelf meds already and if I do too much I go downhill fast.I went to a RA support group and It was just a bunch of ladys that gave up and are now in wheelchairs.I WILL NOT GIVE IN TO RA. I live in the boonies because it is cheaper (and nicer)IMO .Any ideas. Thanks

 

[rodbolt]

Re: to work or not to work

hello<br /> dude I was medically retiredfrom the navy for a similar problem. some days I just hurt worse than others so I know what you mean. I have not tried the SSI yet but its coming. I hope to have my master Yamaha certs this winter and I have previously been certified in suzuki,merc,force and mercruiser and volvo-penta. I hope to teach or be a field service rep someday myself but in the mean time I love fixing boats. you may try a small nusery just grow legal plants they are quite a business here. good luck and dont give up. I have found the days it hurts the worst are the days I have to keep moving or the next day will be even worse.<br /> its a terrible thing. hurts if ya move and worse if ya dont.<br /> good luck and keep posting

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: to work or not to work

OMC - find something you can do from home to start - maybe something you can make and sell on eBay to supplement your current income.

 

[JB]

Re: to work or not to work

Howdy, OMC.<br /><br />You are at an age when many (most?) men, regardless of their circumstances, look at their lives and ask, "What now??". For me, at least, it was a transition from young man to middle age that was hard to take. . .not as bad as adolescence, but bad.<br /><br />Many men take on entirely new careers or avocations. My sons-in-law both went to school to get qualified for new responsibilities that are less demanding physically and more satisfying emotionally. I took my engineering, business and communications background out of high-tech industry and moved into vocational-technical education. Less bux, less stress, more satisfaction.<br /><br />There is something you can do that you would find satisfying. It might not pay well. . .it might not pay at all, but you will feel good about doing it. That is what really matters.<br /><br />Good luck, my friend.

 

[tylerin]

Re: to work or not to work

OMC I would think about the things that you really enjoy, and revolve my efforts around them. I wouldn't think that it would have to be day in and day out type of work. Maybe just seasonal work, assuming the summer months your feeling more capable of getting around. Regardless of what you might be thinking you have worth.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: to work or not to work

Hello OMC, I know how much you love the old motorcycles. You could always get yourself a basket case and tinker around with that. The AMCA holds a lot of national meets within a days drive of your place. If you have never been to one of these meets you are missing out. You should be able to pick up some old iron at one of them. Also you could get into selling old MC parts on ebay. Its very profitable and a lot of fun. With your knowledge of old MC's you could always do repairs for folks, things they do not want to do like wheel lacing, frame repair, etc. There is also a good buck to be made bolting on accessorys and changing fluids for all the new wave rich guys riding Harleys these days, lord knows they dont know how to do it. <br /><br />Here is a link to the AMCA, I have been a member for a lot of years. Once you get to the site make sure you take the virtual tour of the muesem it is awesome, I have been there.<br /><br /> http://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/

 

[one more cast]

Re: to work or not to work

Thanks for all the input, I do have an idea about making 1:18 scale motorcycle shops, bars,drive-ins, garages and such. Maybe I should just start out there and see where it takes me.I'm kind of a jack of all trades, master of none kind of guy. I have a vivid imagination and I'm pretty artistic and I've often thought I would like to be some sort of designer. o crap, is this a midlife crisis? Falthead, I used to belong to AMCA but when I started having trouble holding up my bike,and kickstarting is impossible, and the prices went out of my range. I started loseing interest.

 

[neumanns]

Re: to work or not to work

Why not start a corperation with whatever venture you persue. You can draw a minimal salery (ie $450/month) and reinvest the rest of the profit's into the corperation. Corperations or other qualified avenue's can be a headache to start and can have some initial startup cost but should allow you a way to protect your current income. When your dissability payments are no longer in jepordy you can liquidate the assets.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: to work or not to work

OMC, this is just a thought that might work for you. A friend of mine that was disabled from an auto accident now has a small side line. I don't want to call it a business, but he does make some good money from it. He basically rents himself out as a GrandPaw rental. He takes several 6 to 10 year old boys out and does various things from work to play. The boys he takes out come from a single parent home where there is not a father figure. He charges only a little more than what a sitter gets, but then gets tipped quiet often. <br /><br />He says he gets a great enjoyment out of it. Does him good as well as the boys. They do all kinds of outdoors stuff. He rarely does the work since the boys are always eager to learn and do for him.<br /><br />Just a thought for you....

 

[JGREGORY]

Re: to work or not to work

OMC, You received some good replys and I do not have much to add except....<br /><br />Have you tried another avenue. Do you have any education beyond HS. If you have a Masters I know a lot of colleges will Hire adjuncts if you have a particuler speciality. I don't know about tech schools their requirements may be not as strict. Or go to school, If your looking for a challenge try to earn a degree or take classes that interest you maybe able to take that knowledge and turn it into a light weight bus. I used to have a 70 yr old grandmother in some of my classes. She was smart as a whip and was taking some finance classes to get a better feel for how brokers worked. She was a bored widow with not that much money but enough to be able to play around with the market and she decided that why should she pay some one to make her investment decisions when she could learn and do it herself. She Graduated last year from what I heard. Was at it for 5 years when I met her.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: to work or not to work

Good afternoon OMC.<br /><br />Rodbolt suggested growing plants.<br /> <br />Well that is something I am pretty knowledgable about.<br /> <br />But let's forget the technical side for a moment.<br /> <br />The nuts and bolts at this point concern the creation of an income that has to be less than $500 month for you to keep your benefit.<br /><br />The way I see it, if you could produce something that produces cash by way of small individual sales then who the hell would know if you earnt $500 or $1,500 a month. You declare just what suits you, or you work as hard as you wish.<br /><br />That means you need some place to sell your product, so do you have weekend flea markets in your area, as they are a brilliant place to sell home made/grown product for cash.<br /><br />That is where I started 12yrs back.<br /><br />I knocked over $35,000 in the first year. <br />Since then I have moved to wholesaling to a Supermarket Chain, but i still go to the Flea Market every Sunday. Don't make as much now, but it is a steady income flow.<br /><br />The next thing, I would guess you may not have a lot of surplus savings to invest in a venture, which means plants would sort of suit you, if.................you have the inclination to get involved with them.<br /><br />If you think this could be for you, and you want to talk to me about it, then let me know. I am willing to guide you thru this product.<br /><br />Cheers<br />Phillip<br /><br />(PS :: it is not real hard )

 

[one more cast]

Re: to work or not to work

Thanks again everyone, The biggest problem is where I live. spelled BOONIES. the closest dept. store is 40 miles away. most everybody is poor or on welfare,or ssi,or a drunk. Our biggest attraction is snowmobiling or four wheeling.we have greenhouses in every little town, a ton of snowmobile and fourwheeler sales places, bars and a few deer farms, saw mills, gun shops and boat repair shops.It wouldn't bother me to loose my ssi but I can't get insurance from anyone. Right now my meds are free from the drug company due to my low income. The local collage is about 50 miles away but I would consider going if I knew what for. I own 10 acres here at the house and 54 acres even further up in the woods that I lease out for the amount of the taxes.I wont leave the area at this time because I have to take care of my 83 year old mom who won't move out of her house.I really have enough to do to keep me busy its just not very fulfilling. I have done some selling on ebay but mostly stuff I just had laying around and I keep an eye on, mow the lawn, check the furnaces an such at a couple of places that the out of town snowmobilers own.

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: to work or not to work

same here, but it is not any hinderence in MY biz...<br />got a phone and a puter?<br />

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: to work or not to work

OMC, given what the pres did this week that tells me what he thinks of our laws your $500 a month limitation seems a moot point, just do like all my self employed friends do, work off the books or cook em. I'm originally from a small town in upstate NY with the same welfare, unemployed, unemployable, basic misfits and drunks comment I under stand the logistics of your problem, In any case good luck, Ken

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: to work or not to work

its a rough spot to be in, I have two fractures in the back, RA in the ankles and knees, "significant degeneration in the spinal column"<br /><br />Pain is constant, but I cant stop trying<br /><br />This college degree is a big thing for me, its not just study its survival of the pain, keeping on with something despite the pain, but once I get thru it, I talk to people for a living<br /><br />granted, its a **** poor paying job<br /><br />and I dont know if I can maintain my medicines, which are a TON of money with all the problems I have<br /><br />I guess with you bing in the boonies and all, there isnt much in the way of schools and the like, so getting a degree at an instituion could be a problem<br /><br />getting one on line is a different story!<br /><br />but you need clients to work with, boonie area might have a state funded outreach program in place, but odds are against it<br /><br />maybe you could take slices of trees, sand em down and polish em, makes for a wild table, sell it on ebay, smaller slices would make for great clocks, photo frames, etc<br /><br />just a thought!

 

[one more cast]

Re: to work or not to work

Thanks again, my brain is starting to heat up now.I like the tree thing,maybe I'll hand carve(with a dremal tool) walking sticks.There are a couple of programs that would pay to get me started in a home based business. When I first went on ssd I checked them out but then my meds quit working and I had all I could do to get out of bed at that time so I gave up on the working idea. Now with all the new RA drugs that have came out in the last few years I feel that I can try again. here is a link to one of the programs if anyone else from NY needs it. VESID

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: to work or not to work

hmmmm, upstate NY ... old hardwood forest area ... you could take those tree slices, square em off and sell them at a HUGE PROFIT with stainless gimbals as one post tables for boats, anything for a boat commands a huge tag, could even contact the high buck marinas to see if they would be interested in something like that<br /><br />sourcing the trees could be handled by finding high school kids with a chainsaw and a pick up, bring you sections, get a harbor frieght bandsaw to slice em up<br /><br />ten coats of varnish for that mile deep shine, and the orders should pour in<br /><br />

 

[one more cast]

Re: to work or not to work

Ray, my next door neightbor (if you go through the back lot) and best friend owns a sawmill that he now only uses for his personal use. I could hire him to saw me some slabs. He had a kitchen table built out of birds eye maple that he found. He paid around $700 to have it built and he was offered $1700 before he even got it home.

 

[Solittle]

Re: to work or not to work

MEDS - For those of you who are faced with the high cost of meds taking a big chunk of the income - Canada is the way to go. We save about 40% on a $4K annual bill.<br /><br />The one we use is:<br /><br /> http://www.saveoncanadianmeds.com/pharmacy.html