For 28 years, Joe Ramirez taught social studies in Austin for students including President George W. Bush’s daughters, four-time Grammy award winning musician Gary Clark Jr. and former Gov. Rick Perry’s son. After retiring in 2012, he said he initially was able to live on his $2,200 a month check from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
A decade later, his rent in Austin has doubled, and despite having a higher pension than the state average because he retired as an administrator, he’s worried that it won’t keep up with his increasing expenses and inflation.
“It’s tough for me, even with my higher pension,” said Ramirez, who is president of Austin’s Retired Teachers Association. “It’s more of a month to month thing because of rent, rising cost of groceries, medication and gasoline. It’s very difficult to make it.”
