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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

You're past retirement age

Posted By: gourdpainter on 2009-06-16
In Reply to: When you assume you are usually - VR here

and you only have 36 years?  One can say anything they want annonymously but I do believe a person who is past retirement age would have better sense than to tell a fellow MT to go back to retirement.  LOL


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I am past retirement and do not care anything
about leaving. I want to have my pay from my job and also draw from my social security. Those are my plans and working independent, still travel and do what I want to do and have the money to accomplish.
just today - you're a little behind - that was for the past 3 years-
and ID thiefs are also overseas - did ya see Dateline this week?  Another point you are missing - we can prosecute those here - try finding somebody in Pakistan right now.
If you had applied with them in the past, they're sending out emails with
s
Yes, PS HAD a good rep in the past, but they're a mess now. Stay away. nm
nm
Retirement
I will retire in four years. I always advise people who ask me to look at other careers than MTing. Its golden era is long past. I really loathe those matchbook schools (you know, the ones with Sally Struthers in their advertising copy) telling people they can make 40K by taking their pathetic little course. If I had a dollar for everyone who has come to me crying about how they cannot get a job with their so-called diploma from some such school, I could retire right now very nicely. Meanwhile, I hope people will really weigh their options carefully before becoming an MT. It looks to me like MQ really messed up this field for so many in so many ways.
Retirement? What is that?
I start drawing my retirement this year- not quitting MTing- just want to have twice as much coming in per month as I am getting now. Cha-Ching.
Retirement
I believe that people who work hard all their life deserve to retire.  They should not be forced into retirement with nothing to show for their hard work.  We had dinner guests last  night and the topic of conversation that someone brought up had to do with some complaining about older workers taking jobs away from younger workers.  None of those in attendance are employed, all have a fairly comfortable retirement.  My question was how many people of retirement age do you suppose actually want to work and how many HAVE to work to be sure they have food?  Not everyone is physically able to work after reaching retirement age.  It should be a choice.  How many 70 year olds do you suppose actually want to work or would they rather pursue things they weren't able to do when they were younger and had the responsibility of a full-time job?  I, for one, am thankful that I am still physically able to work full-time (if I chose to do so) and still pursue other things as I have done all my life.  I've always had more than one basket, my favorite when I did MT and was also a livestock broker.  Unfortunately, I am no longer physically strong enough to pursue the livestock brokering.  I find that I am just as happy working for free for things I truly believe in.  Some on this board say that I should go back to painting gourds (which I still do) but I also have a heart for my MT sisters and brothers who are hurting and if I can make even a little difference in their lives, I will do what I can.
Unless you are retirement age now, I doubt your
hee..hee
I don't see retirement in my future, unless it's the
:(
Me too. I have stopped even considering anywhere else. I am here until retirement.
And that is such a stress-free thing, never to have to retrain for a new company again!
fat cat may be close to retirement sm
but she still has some humanity about her! Probably why she still has a job so close to retirement.

Not all companies have the attitudes that you post. In this business, there is absolutely no call for that kind of attitude. The companies can cover their butts. Half of them don't have work anyway.

I have been through exactly what the poster posted and I told MQ to stick it after 23 years. Have not had a problem getting a job and have been upfront and honest about the situation I found myself in.

When an employer calls someone at hospice and starts ragging on them, knowing full well there is no work to do the 8 HOURS I WAS SCHEDULED PER WEEK, then its time to get out. I did and never looked back. Probably was the boost I needed to get out of that place.

I applaud the OP for doing what she did. Family comes before any doggone job. She won't have a problem geting UE either. She applied for FMLA, they denied her, what else can she do? FMLA is there for situations just like this.

I don't blame her for telling the higher-ups. I would have let them know too before I left that place and never looked back.

Wish I knew waht place it was!
Go back to retirement s/m

I'll ignore that juvenile comment.


I didn't SAY that anyone with a dictionary could do VR or anything else ACCURATELY.  I have, however, SEEN companies who used non-MTs to do Q.A.  Are you absolutely certain YOU aren't being Q.A.-d by such a person?  Furthermore, with companies ever looking for ways to cut MT pay, they might just do that doncha think?  I'm sorry to enlighten you to the fact that MT isn't nearly the big deal some of you try to make it.  Most of us old-timers received OTJ training in a HOSPITAL which gave us an education you'll never dream of getting in any of the MT schools.


IMHO you need a few more years experience as an MT and maybe, just maybe you could learn something from us old grandmas if you weren't so wet behind the ears that your hearing is impaired.


 


Retirement and taxes

Here's the scoop on SS and taxes.  They  do not penalize you once you reach full retirement age, HOWEVER, if you continue to work they will continue to deduct SS from your paycheck and at the end of the year if you make over a certain amount, you also pay taxes on your SS benefits up to 85% of what you receive from SS..


Contrary to what chatty says, they do not want you to take early retirement.  They encourage you to wait until full retirement age.  That way you might die and they never have to pay a penny.  The death benefit to your beneficiary is a whopping $225.  If you do the math, you are much better off taking retirement at the earliest possible moment.


QUESTION RE. RETIREMENT - sm

 


I know about this 1-dollar-for-2 for taking early retirement - but I was wondering:  Do they take 50% of your Social Security benefits or 50% of your paycheck?  If they take half your paycheck, you're essentially working for nothing.  If you're working for low wages, it won't pay to go to work.  If you have a fairly decent salary between ages 62-66, then it's a TOTAL ------g ripoff!  Just wondering.


I have 7 yrs until retirement and I doubt is any MT work SM
will be done in US. I am thinking of other jobs. Instead of some work going to India, or perhaps some other country, most of the work will be done offshore and we in the US will be left little. I'm not hysterical over this, I just consider it a fact of life.
MDI-MD employees, how are you funding your retirement?

To those of you who are working for MDI-MD, have any of you found alternative ways of funding your retirement since the company doesn't offer this benefit? 


Any and all positive input would be appreciated. 


The only people that are going to make it with VR or ASR are MTs that are nearing retirement and

dont mind the lower wages and who probably already have problems with muscles and tendons from years of MTing or others who as people said are slower transcribers or part time people just supplementing their income who just want to plug along and make a few bucks. Anyone who is self supporting and needs a good income will not make it on those rates without killing themselves and if one company gets away with it they all will because I am sure MQ is next when they come out with their new pay plan and ASR rates and then they will all follow suit. Why send this work overseas and then have to edit it again so I guess they just hope they have everyone behind the 8 ball.


 


Only about 8 more years till retirement, but I AM going to take the test. (sm)
Have never felt the urge to do so in the past, but the company I am working for now reimburses the testing fees and you get a small raise because you are a CMT. It all adds up to being beneficial for me money-wise, so.... I chose to do it for that reason and that reason alone.

Nope, hope to supplement my retirement years.
x
retiring from Spheris? Gonna get retirement pay from them or Social Security? nm
.
since I didn't pay into social security as an IC, I started a retirement plan to cover me.
x
Hope you're enjoying those slave wages you're earning.
.
So you guys feel you're getting paid what you're worth with VR?
I'm not trying to be snarky. I've never done VR, so I'm trying to understand.

You're happy with your paycheck with VR? Do you find the files to be as bad as the original post implied?
So you're telling me, basically, they're bad news?
They offered me 0.095/line and you know - it sounded too good to be true, but I SWEAR the recruiter told me they do not outsource. Oh brother... I just wish they'd be honest. I really don't know what to do.
Not the OP, but they're supposed to take out all the other taxes as you're an employee with th
s
No, they're not losing money....they're gaining!
If a company charges their clients by the line, I'm sure that line rate does not go down even though the MTs pay does.

ASR pays about 2/3 normal line rate to its MTs. Their ultimate goal is to have the MTs do twice as much work. Therefore, the client is getting their work faster, but paying their normal rate, while corporate gets that money and the MTs get the lower line rate.

Whether the newbies want to realize it or not, MTSOs have not increased MTs' salaries in the past 10 years. They still start out at the same pay as the last century!

This used to be a very lucrative profession. Nowadays, most MTs are considered to be paid at the poverty level. You don't believe me, look it up!
How far in the past?
nm
I have in the past, what do you need to know?

No, they used to pay more in the past.
x
I have in the past
In fact, they probably like that you do rather than ask for time off when the work load is heavy.
This is what i have done in the past.
I have called a facility and asked to speak to the director of medical records. I told them that I was interested in working on transcription for their facility and asked them the name of the company. They told me with no problem.
who have you worked for in the past - sm
Sometimes it's just getting into the right place at the right time, but if you have already worked for a few places, I don't want to mention their names.
I have spoken with her in the past and she was
What did she say or do that was so rude and unprofessional?
Worked there in the past.
But frequently ran out of work. Finally had to leave.
Well, I worked for them in the past (sm)
and had trouble being paid.  There has been info here over the past 3 years showing that it's still going on.
Not that I know of...I just saw some favorable past (sm)
posts about them and thought I would see if they are hiring..
past employees
Why is it that past employees always yell the loudest?  I take pride in the work I do for Shapin and if the past employee had just asked for help and had not turned in files that weren't even edited, it may have been a different situation.  I have mentored many MTs and have seen them grow in their profession.  Say what you want about Shapin, but remember if you are a past employee, there probably is a reason and it wasn't the pay.
From past experience, I would
stay away, far away from Accupro. I was not paid what was due me and was basically called a liar. Bad business ethics.

I know another person who worked for them, who sent an email and had things in it deleted and changed to make her look bad and then had the changed email forwarded to someone else. Stay away, things may have been good a long time ago, but not anymore.
In the past they have done this in an attempt to
attract people who know/have worked on the account.
current or past MDI-MD MTs,

did your line count significantly increase at MDI over whereever you had been before? 


I believe there were posts in the past. (sm)
Check the archives. As I recall, it wasn't good!
Maybe these past posts will help --

I don't work for them but I was thinking about it and I remembered there was a lot of chatter about them within the last couple of months so I did a search of the MTStars Company Board cause I thought I remembered something that might be helpful to you.  Until you get updated info from current or past employees maybe this will help. 


Medical Axolotl [2007-08-25]


Med - employee $100/mo., employee +1 $200/mo., employee + kids $200/mo.and employee + family $300/mo.


 


Axolotl [2007-08-18]


Axolotl expects quality and reliable MTs. Due to the fact, they do not overstaff, it is IMPERATIVE, everyone be there for their scheduled shifts. They provide OUTSTANDING and affordable benefits, as well as more than competitive pay. If you meet the above standards as an MT, then you should apply. If you don't meet these standards, then you need to find a company who doesn't expect you to produce quality documents and to show up for your shift. I have been an MT for 13 years. Axolotl is better than any company I have ever researched or any employerI have worked for. If you are looking for former employees who did not meet the above standards, I am sure you can find them.


 


Good luck in whatever you decide. 


 


No ad, just though maybe someone worked for them in the past...
I got the same info you did, a few companies by the name of PRN Transcription but I could not find any in MA.  One in Illinois, one in Ohio.....?
Well, last day this past week my pay was
over $18.00 an hour. I don't consider that too bad myself. I personally am very happy there, no problem with anyone, they leave you alone, no IMing all the time nor emails, good support, love the platform. Great place for me.
There have been several posts about them the past
couple of weeks.  
wow now there's a blast from the past sm
I used to work for them years ago, but I think they must have gone out of business a while back. Their website has been down for a few years.
Times past it was the same as now -
If you are typing radiology, op notes or ERs - no, it would not be a good deal.  Discharge summaries, definitely!  You know when the doctors hem and haw and talk to the other doctors or take a phone call?  Or you have a dictaiton that's just dead air, no dictation?  You get paid for all that time that the doctor is not talking.  It doesn't depend on times past versus times now.  I was paid by the minute 20 yeras ago and it was the same then.  It's good money with discharge summaries, not good for op notes or ERs.
I had not had a lot of ESL in the past, just a few here and there and never Hispanic. sm
It took me 3 weeks before I felt comfortable and now it gets better every day. I really enjoy it. A friend of mine left the account and KS and called them up and started again. They told her that it is a difficult account and they understand and had her come back. Now she is happy on the account too. She had been there a while though so that might be why but she gave up in a huff and left and they took her back (about 2 weeks later).
She had an MTSO in the past and did not pay.

What I have done for the past 6 years - sm
For the first 4 years as an IC I paid quarterly to state and had hubby take out additional federal from his check.  I now have him take out additional for both, which is far easier for me.  The IRS does not care where it comes from, just that it gets paid.  Not sure if this is an option for you, but it works for me.
I have seen several posts over the past
few months (possibly by the same person) who talks about how great they pay.  Someone posted the past week that they offered 8 cpl.  That is not great pay by any stretch, especially with some of the crappy accounts they have.