Don’t become a teacher in Maine.

Why? Because if you do, the federal government will punish you. Teachers in Maine do not have an opportunity to join Social Security because it is a matching tax, and school systems cannot afford it.

Teachers in Maine do not have 401(k) plans with employers matching a certain percentage of contributions.

Teachers in Maine have no employer-sponsored pension plans. They must pay for it themselves. Each paycheck will show about 7 percent taken out for the retirement plan.

Many teachers work at jobs besides teaching. They have to pay Social Security taxes on those earnings. Even now, as a retired teacher with a part-time job, I have to pay Social Security taxes on my earnings. During those months, I pay more in taxes than what my monthly Social Security retirement check is for.

When I retired, I had paid in Social Security taxes enough to meet the 40 quarters requirement, so my benefit should have been about $913 per month. Because of two federal laws (the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provisions), my monthly benefit was reduced to $65 per month.

Is it right to punish Maine teachers?

Many others, who were not teachers, retire and have the benefit of a 401(k) plan, a company pension (which they did not have to pay for), and receive full Social Security benefits that are not reduced by the company pension.

It is time to repeal the federal laws.

William Riggs, Wilton