How We're Thriving

Your September Cover Story ("Six Ways to Thrive in Retirement") asked readers about their retirement experiences. I encourage other readers to try RV'ing. We live in the Southeast in a permanent home but travel extensively, especially during the summer. We've been to the Indianapolis 500, hot air ballooning in New Mexico, and to Calgary, Alberta, to name a few stops. The RV is even handy back home when we have family or guests visit. A great source of information is the Family Motor Coach Association, which can arrange for trip routing, discounts, and mail forwarding. (FMCA can be reached at 800-543-3622 or www.fmca.com).

Donna Ebright
Fort Myers, Florida

Disappointed with Coverage

I was disappointed that the September issue contained only one small mention of our efforts to eliminate the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP). I realize that we must fight for prescription drug coverage, but please do not give up on GPO/WEP repeal. These two laws are causing financial havoc to retirees around the nation.

I'm a retired teacher, and GPO/WEP has caused me to lose one-half of my earned Social Security retirement benefits, $462 a month. Should my husband precede me in death, I will receive $21 a month in widow's benefits, a ludicrous amount after a lifetime of payments made by my husband in the belief that they would help support a surviving spouse. It's time for Americans to force Congress to take the right and moral step and correct a wrong it committed in enacting the GPO/WEP in the first place.

Martha Callaway
Wichita Falls, Texas

Editor--We'll continue to cover the campaign to repeal GPO/WEP as events warrant (see "President's Viewpoint" and "10-Minute Activist"). Between issues of This Active Life, you can find timely updates on GPO/WEP at www.nea.org/lac/socsec.

Contributions

This month's cover story reports on NEA-Retired members making a difference in the lives of children and educators outside our borders.

How did we learn about these four service-minded retirees? We didn't bump into them on our world travels (too bad!).

Rosalie Giffoniello wrote last year to keep us posted on her efforts to help children in Kolkata, India. Tom Mechtenberg's wife, Mary, e-mailed several months ago to tell us of his Peace Corps assignment in St. Lucia. We heard about the work of Barb Gosh and Mary Jo Huelle from officers of their state retired groups (Thank you, Gene Craig and Tom Black!).

When we learned more details, we decided Rosalie, Tom, Barb, and Mary Jo deserved a longer feature, so we found photographers in India and St. Lucia and developed our cover story.

It's more evidence that NEA-Retired members are making a contribution just about anywhere you look. And it proves that your letters and e-mails make a difference. Keep 'em coming! Let us know what you're up to, or suggest angles or people to talk to for this future story:

Retirement Living Options. Whether you're living at home, in an independent living facility, or some other arrange-ment, what factors did you weigh in making your decision? What are the advantages or drawbacks?

Contact John O'Neil, This Active Life, NEA, Suite 710, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036; joneil@nea.org.

News Flashes

R_x Provision in Doubt
What seemed certain this summer--that Congress would pass landmark new legislation to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare--is now in doubt. Both the House and Senate passed bills quickly, but, at press time, the House-Senate conference committee had stalled. One hang-up: how the new legislation would affect employers offering prescription drug coverage to retirees. Critics say the bills will encourage employers to stop offering prescription drug benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees. Employer-sponsored plans are the leading source of drug coverage for seniors, according to the Henry Kaiser Family Foundation.

Do-Not-Call List on Hold
More than 51 million Americans who signed up for the Federal Trade Commission's do-not-call list must grapple with telemarketing pitches a while longer. At press time, two district courts had issued rulings preventing launch of the FTC's do-not-call list in October. Until the courts settle the issue, continue to tell telemarketers to add you to their do-not-call lists, advises the Privacy Rights Center (PRC). For more, go to www.privacyrights.org.

Social Security Privatization
The calls to privatize Social Security, conspicuously missing as the stock market swooned, are back. The New York Times recently reported that President George Bush plans to make the availability of private investment accounts through Social Security a central plank of his 2004 election campaign. Meanwhile, four Senators recently staged an old-fashioned debate in the Senate on adding a private investment option to Social Security. Take note: Senator Jon Corzine of New Jersey, former chairman of Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs & Co., was one of those arguing against private investment accounts.