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fat cat may be close to retirement sm

Posted By: former MQ mt 23-y on 2009-06-03
In Reply to: You take my words out of context, don’t you? - SuzieQ

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!


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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!
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. 


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.
You're past retirement age
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
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
Close, but not quite.
x
All I have to do is close it out.
NM
Sure you do, if you don't have a close friendship with
Don't be fooled.  It has been said here before that the office staff are all pretty much related in one way or another, and they are.  So why couldn't those working at home be close friends and relatives too?
pretty close to DQS
a little different
If they were very close friends, yes I would let them know. sm
However, I would be very tactful in doing so. Maybe give them a hint to start looking for another company or job that you have some inside information...etc. If they don't get the hint, then just tell them.

Chances are the company may know this is coming and didn't tell the MTs. Most companies know when their contracts are up for bid or they are given 30-90 day notice the hospital dropping them. So, if the owners of the company do not have the common courtesy to let their MTs know, shame on them! It happens all the time in the corporate world.

Little bit of advice - do not get into gossipy detail, he said, she said. Just do it with diplomacy.

Good luck whatever you decide.
this will never come close to mtjbs. n/m
/
October is close enough
You don't have to be to the letter, to the day, to the exact moment. It's October in 3 months. Four years and 9 months is just as good as five years.
they are based close to me
s
I doubt it.....Not even close
nm
It should be getting close to the time where
this conversation disappears off the board. Did anyone ever notice when we start discussing line counts at a CERTAIN company the conversation disappears - poof, like it never existed.

I've been noticing the same problems, and I think I work at the same place as all of you. I have also noticed that my own formula for adding lines up using the word count, which I usually took the count in word and divided by 1.123, and it equalled out pretty darn close to the other count. Now that doesn't add up anymore. Wow, something is definitely wrong with this place. I think it's time to jump overboard for me.
Not even close - laughing
I am just one who has been trying to offer 'food for thought' posts, that's all.


Only 20 years of exp. here, but that's close enough,

right? 


I worked for them for about a year.  It was an okay experience.  I had a surgery center account which was small and just about the perfect amount of work for an 8-hour day, plus it was M-F 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.  I didn't like it that my primary was somebody else's secondary, so sometimes I would get kicked to my secondary because somebody else was on my primary and it wasn't big enough to share.  My secondary account was slim pickins so I usually actually got kicked straight to my tertiary, which they PROMISED would NEVER run out of work, but of course it did, sometimes for days at a time.  The one thing that bothers me most is running out of work.  I get really nervous about that.  Add to that the new e-mails about transitioning to VR and I said I'm outta here.  I just wasn't interested at the time in doing that.  


Maybe I should have stayed and my account would have been safe from VR - I don't know.  I just didn't want to have to worry about it.  All in all, other than the fact that they don't seem to offer more than 8 cpl, they were an okay company.  Not horrible, not wonderful.  Mine was a Diskriter account, not a hospital employee account, which are two entirely different things.


Oh yeah, the QA for my account was an absolute ditz.  I wasn't impressed with her  AT ALL. 


How many MTs?? Not even close to 400 unless you are counting your offshore MTs.
Tell everyone how many MTs and QA Specialists you lost in one months' time.
Do you see this as coming very close to Spheris. Is this what this is all about.
:
Nope, close but no cigar.
Spheris purchased Avicis (formerly HealthScribe) but not Acusis.
Archaic doesn't even come close.
nm
Although I am not in management, I work close with them. sm
They do not offshore. If you have experience, negotitate your line rate. You will get very close to what you want if you are good.

They do work with new MTs, which I think is a great thing for them. Everyone needs someplace to get the experience.

If I had to say one negative thing about them it is this... they are pretty strict on the schedule you set for yourself.

They do offer 2nd and 3rd shift differential. There is also a weekend differential. They do offer further bonuses from time to time.

I personally like their software since it is integrated with Word. It is very easy to use and easy to learn.

Although I am full time, I cannot elaborate on their benefits. I know they have medical, but no dental or vision as far as I know. However, my spouse carries the insurance so that was never an issue for me.

I hope this helps. I know a lot of people do not like Softscript. I can say if you would have asked me 1-1/2 years ago, I probably would have agreed with them, but there have been a lot of changes and they really are for the better of the employee not just the company.
Guess didn't look close enough
Didn't put 2 and 2 together (Jennifer Poole and RC Transcription).  So right.  We deserve more than 5 cpl.  What a rip!  Case closed:(
oops supposed to be close - sorry, just got up
x
I was offered a position but was not even close
to what I make per line, especially since I just got my 2nd raise!!!!  WOOHOO.
I have never run out of work at Keystrokes, nor have I come close
I have 2 ER accounts, and they both keep me very busy. It is true that they make sure that everyone working there has enough work before they will hire more people. That's why I love them so much.
Webmedx comes pretty close...sm
to meeting your requirements. They do have a fair amount of ESL and I doubt you could get a M-F schedule, but everything else they can and do offer.
Nothing to worry about there, they pay for it, you do it at a clinic close to you.
Pee in a cup, blah blah, no big deal.  Good gig if you can get it.
Not even close. They only have temporary work right now. nm
nm
I'm pretty close - about 12-13K/month.
=
I found a sweet job close to my home. sm
I am trying to work outside of my home.  I enjoyed my first day and I have my fingers crossed that it will work out.  It is not transcription though.  It is copy typing and I hope I can become good at it and fast.  I hate creeping along at a snail's pace.  I'm just used to flying on the keyboard.  Good luck everyone. 
I'm an IC, I adhere to a close to set schedule, am loyal and the first day that I
hear employees get preferential treatment over ICs, I'll jump ship.  I am an IC because my husband has better health benefits and they are cheaper than my company.  We still have line counts to make just like employees and bills to pay, etc, plus we don't get vacation, etc, so need to work steadily just to keep up if we do need to take a day off or are off sick.
Yeah, the accounts keep close tabs SM

on who is typing their work at my company and I know for a fact they have demanded that certain people not be allowed to type their work, so I know that does happen.  It also used to happen in the hospital I worked.


As much as I feel for you having a rough time, in business (and this is a business) there is really not much room for error here and these companies can't keep people who continually make errors - otherwise the account goes bye-bye and the company has to replace it with another account, not easy to do these days.


NOW it is time to close the barn door???
They are falling like a house of cards! What else can we expect? We put our faith in some people who had no idea what direction to take. Most of them were at the end of their careers to boot and, in my opinion, not really motivated to do a lot of real good. Their major concern seemed to be flying all over the country spreading gossip on the dues money I was paying them and accomplishing NOTHING. Is offshoring their fault entirely? No, but what did they do to prevent it until very recently? I gave up my membership and CMT 4 years ago. Good riddance!
The line counts never even come close to matching if this is the one in TN. nm
nm
anyone know of a company that is spelled something like ATOTLOL (close to that)?
also would appreciate the correct spelling.  Any information you have would be appreciated.
Got all bills paid but did not close down accts because
I knew, like you, this could ding your credit reports.
Webmedx pays very well for VR - probably the highest or close to it. nm
nm